Another Maazel Mahler cycle

[umbernisitani]

Maazel, never one of the more compelling Mahler conductors, has embarked on a new cycle with the Philharmonia.

http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist_Mahler-1860-1911_000000000019272/item_Symphonies-Nos-1-2-3-Maazel-Philharmonia-S-Matthews-De-Young-Connolly-5CD_5553155

I don't know what he has left to say about Mahler the third time round, because to be honest he was out of ideas with his first one with Vienna.  The New York cycle is not a great improvement either.  His best Mahler must be his VPO 4th (my all-time favorite 4th) but the rest of the cycle was just plain weird.

Any comments on this new cycle, or on Maazel's Mahler in general?

[barry guerrero]

Yes, let's just hope he isn't continuing in the direction of getting ever slower and more ponderous. Some of his Mahler is Mahler ala Bruckner.

[Clov]

I've only heard his M5 from Vienna, can't remember anything that stood out. I had his Titan DVD on the Kulture label, the sound was horrible! Great directing in the film with the beautifully lit ruins behind the Toscanini Phil. The sound was completely flat, like from an old grammaphone. Very dissappointing.

[umbernisitani]

All I remember from that Vienna 5th is that it's plodding and very weird in places, but nevertheless I sort of gained a perverse sort of pleasure hearing it.  The Vienna 1st (is it the only 1st by the VPO on disc?) is just boring.  The horns in particular disappoint given the normally gorgeously burnished Vienna horn sound.

[barry guerrero]

Of Maazel's Vienna M1, I think 'boring' is being polite. To my mind, it's the worst one in that cycle. His Vienna M8 has terric tam-tam smashes at the very end, and Richard Leech does a sensational job on the two big tenor solos in Part II; better than Rene Kollo, even. Unfortunately, so much of Maazel's M8 is predicatably 'under tempo' (slow, except for the end of Part II, which is almost too fast).

One Maazel Mahler disc I do like is the recording of songs with Waltraud Meier and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra (RCA). Even though Ms. Meier shows a bit of wear and tear, I really like her expressive - but not overly expressive! - singing in "Kindertotenlieder" and the few songs from "DKW". I love their rendition of "Wo die schone Trompeten blasen" (my favorite ballad from "DKW").

[Roland Flessner]

I heard the VPO M6, 7 and 9, and I thought all were weird performances in unnatural recordings. I've liked very few Maazel performances over the years, but his VPO Tchaikovsky Manfred is outstanding. I have it on vinyl, and to my knowledge it's never been released on CD. Seems like a natural for Australian Eloquence.

[umbernisitani]

I think the VPO 1st is miles better than the 3rd, which is simply sad.  It has no soul, no color.  The conducting is completely comatose, the pacing is dreary, and the supposedly gorgeous finale is reduced to 29 mins of purely indifferent torture.  Even the VPO plays way below its usual standard, and it is ill-recorded.  The VPO can and does play this symphony exceptionally well (Bernstein, Abbado, Boulez) but under Maazel the orchestra just throws in the towel.  The New York version offers little improvement (the first movement is as joyless as humanly conceivable) so one can only wonder how he will fare with this new Philharmonia one.

I suspect these Philharmonia recordings stem from live performances given around 2011.  Has anyone attended any of that cycle of concerts and if so, how did it go?

[barry guerrero]

Yeah, the VPO M3 is pretty brutal. However, the VPO brass still flex a lot of muscle throughout the long brass choral at the end of the symphony. Pretty impressive in its own right, but musically futile.

[John Kim]

I have the Maazel/BRSO Mahler cycle which is a great improvement over the VPO cycle. In that cycle though Maazel omits the 1st movt. exposition repeat in M1 and M6.

[AZContrabassoon]

I see that Maazel's final installment of Mahler symphonies with the Philharmonia is now available. Has anyone listened to the entire cycle? Any recommendations? I know that for many people Maazel's Mahler just isn't all that great, but I have to admit that in general I liked his VPO set. The playing was marvelous, the recorded sound - early digital - was great. Sometimes it feels like he really didn't want to be there doing this - like the 8th in particular. But some of them are excellent by any standard: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9. M2 was singled out by Norman Lebrecht as a recording from hell, and his description of being at the recording sessions is quite entertaining. I didn't listen to the NY set because they're downloads that so far I haven't been interested in doing. But I am curious about the new recordings. Never can have too much Mahler!

[barry guerrero]

If you sign up for Spotify, you can listen to the Maazel/Philharmonia Mahler for free. I've listened to some of it, and it's really, REALLY slow. Typical of his late style, he does coax huge climaxes from his players. It's a very Brucknerian approach to Mahler, I suppose. It's just not for me, but it is interesting.