Prom 18: 29.07.16 - Mahler: Symphony no. 3

[EdgeleyRob]

I wasn't complaining,just a few observations that it wasn't as note perfect as was seeming to be claimed in some reviews,and not just in the brass section.
I caught the end today on the radio,wonderful performance

[richardfinegold]

I always find it interesting that the same poem was the inspiration for M3 and Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I always find it interesting that the same poem was the inspiration for M3 and Strauss Also Sprach Zarathustra

... and Delius' A Mass of Life, too.

[Nick Armstrong]

This was a magnificent performance, directed by one of the world's most experienced and finest conductors.

I've now listened twice. Any doubts I had over tempos in the first movement, and over the soloist (both probably came across better live in the hall) were completely dispelled by the splendour of the the orchestral playing and above all by everything about the last movement, as good as I have ever heard - and the final brass chorale (with Philip Cobb I take it on the crowning first trumpet) took my breath away each time. I've yet to watch/hear the TV recording ...

Must do some deft editing to remove the shout of "YEAHHH!" which came 5 milliseconds after the end - I can understand why he let out the yell (let's be charitable and assume he was carried away) but wish he bloody hadn't.

[Nick Armstrong]

Besides the obvious (BH) the star of the show, as often for me with this orchestra, was Phil Cobb. That echo of brass band sonority at the start of that final trumpet chorale brought tears to my eyes. In a good way. What a player.

Ah Simon B.... Having just listened AGAIN to the last movement, this time on the TV relay, I was about to wax lyrical again about that brass chorale; but before doing so I thought I'd search the thread to see if anyone else was struck by this section....

Simon: you said it. The sonority you describe, not just at the start of the chorale, but also as it approaches its climax (blending back in from the trombone solo - Dudley Bright: perfection!) - well, I can't stop listening to it... That tone delivered by Philip Cobb, pulsating but pure, gets me right where it does most good (to borrow PGW's description of "Stinker" Pinker's corkscrew left hook to Sir Roderick Spode's eye). And the way Haitink prepares the section, dwelling on the string tremolo...

Magical.

[underthecountertenor]

Ah Simon B.... Having just listened AGAIN to the last movement, this time on the TV relay, I was about to wax lyrical again about that brass chorale; but before doing so I thought I'd search the thread to see if anyone else was struck by this section....

Simon: you said it. The sonority you describe, not just at the start of the chorale, but also as it approaches its climax (blending back in from the trombone solo - Dudley Bright: perfection!) - well, I can't stop listening to it... That tone delivered by Philip Cobb, pulsating but pure, gets me right where it does most good (to borrow PGW's description of "Stinker" Pinker's corkscrew left hook to Sir Roderick Spode's eye). And the way Haitink prepares the section, dwelling on the string tremolo...

Magical.

[Daniel]

Give me Abbado and the Lucerne any day.

Interesting (to me) you should say that about this work. As far as I'm concerned Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in the 2007 Proms, playing the final brass chorale being discussed, produced as radiant a piece of music making as you're ever likely to hear. No other performance I've ever heard even approaches it. So much quieter apart from anything else, but exuding so much warmth, like a light on a distant hillside welcoming one home after a long, difficult journey.
But as far as the rest of the symphony goes I tend to find Abbado's portamenti and overtly emotional expression tiring after a while.

I've only heard the last movement of this Haitink (just back from a long trip), but it sounds fantastic! I know these things are all so subjective, but he allows the music to breathe from somewhere deep inside itself, which Abbado for me does not. The LFO brass chorale though, is still the one that eclipses all others in my memory.

[Prommer]

Very well said, Daniel... The last ten minutes of the LFO Mahler 3 were beyond compare: floating, weightless yet profoundly placed, utterly wonderful in the hall.

[Petrushka]

It's taken me a while but I finally caught up with the TV broadcast of this Prom this evening.

Camera direction and sound absolutely outstanding and taken together with the enthralling performance from Haitink and the LSO I was even more spellbound than I was in the hall. One to keep and one of the great Proms of the season.

[Richard Tarleton]

Camera direction and sound absolutely outstanding and taken together with the enthralling performance from Haitink and the LSO I was even more spellbound than I was in the hall. One to keep and one of the great Proms of the season.

Indeed - a great performance, and as you say Pet outstanding camera direction (cf the handling of the offstage horn to the last time this was televised from the Proms ).