General Category > Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions

The Maazel (Mahler) stocks

<< < (2/2)

barry guerrero:
What Leo says is pretty accurate. You can't have an allergy to slow tempi, like I do. However, there is some gorgeous sounding playing sprinkled about. While I agree with John's opinion that Maazel's M7 is poor from an interpretive standpoint, some of the playing is truly beautiful.

Maazel's 8th is not the worst one on the planet. While much of it is greatly under tempo, it has some really good things going for it: the women vocal soloists are all very good; the tenor - Richard Leech - is outstanding; and there are a few humungous tam-tam smashes at the close of the symphony. Personally, I think it has a lot more humanity to it than the hugely over-rated Solti M8.

Maazel's M3 is quite a crawl. But again, there's some very beautiful playing here and there. Personally, I think that the best "below tempo" Mahler cycle is the Segerstam on Chandos.

Barry

michaelw:
Thank you very much for your helpful comments. I wasn’t aware that Maazel stands for slow tempi, but my taste regarding tempi often seems to depend on my personal shape. So at the next occasion I will give it a try – and beautiful playing as reported by Barry can be very nice even if the whole concept isn’t convincing.
Unfortunately the ebay option is not possible here, since the shipping costs would make it quite expensive.
John, what is this BSRO cycle about? Is it official? Seems to be totally out of print and access.

Michael

sperlsco:
Since you are asking for opinions, I'll provide mine on Maazel's cycle:

YUCK!  Avoid it at all costs.  

BTW, I own it and refuse to get rid of it -- so what does that say about me?   :)

Seriously, though, I do not mean to offend anyone that likes Maazel's Mahler.  However, it is just not for me.  I can contrast him to Segerstam, who I quite like.  Segerstam's overall timings look very slow.  However, he has flexible tempos, stresses dynamics, and plays up the big/dramatic moments.  To me, Maazel is just slow and inflexible.  I can't even listen to the finale of his M3. 

John Kim:
Maazel's cycle (from 2000 or 2001?) with BRSO was released on pirate label from Japan. The playing is far more idiomatic, smooth, and powerful than VPO and his reading has matured enough to make the new recordings worth listening to. I've heard all of them and liked most of them, especially the M9th and M2nd. I think you can order them individually on internet.

John,

sbugala:
I had some issues with the sound in this set.  Some of it sounds really glassy and harsh.  I do like his M5, which on a budget issue has tracking throughout, which is a contrast to most recordings.  And when I've heard his M4, I've liked it.  With a boat load of other sets out there, I think this one could be passed by without regret. 

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page