Three Mahler 8 recordings I like (among many good ones!): Colin Davis/Bavarian Radio S.O. (in spite of some blatant balance problems with the vocal soloists); JoAnn Falletta/Viriginia something-or-another Orchestra, and Gabriel Feltz/Duisburg S.O. The once thing that these three have in common, is that they have their massed choirs hoooooold on to the very last syllable they sing in Part II ("hiiiiiiiiiiii - naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan"). It's positively thrilling when they do that.
Both C. Davis and Feltz have big tam-tam smashes at the end. The Feltz has a large children's chorus, in relation to the combined adult forces of Choir I and Choir II: 45 children in proportion to 128 adult choristers (Choir I and II combined!!). I find that this higher than usual proportion makes a HUGE difference. All of them have a somewhat mixed bag of vocal soloists.
There are, of course, many other recordings of M8 that I do like, for various reasons.
Topic: Three M8 recordings I really like, and what they have in common (Read 2390 times)