classictoday gives a lukewarm rating for Rattle/BPO/EMI M2nd

[sperlsco]

...Many conductors only know how to slow down (Maazel comes to mind).

Thanks for the detailed review Barry.  I wonder if you've heard Maazel's NYPO M2 from a year or two ago?  It was released as a commercial download last year. 

You probably know that I generally despise Maazel's Mahler -- as he's one of the few to accomplish the feat of making Mahler's music non-un-dis-interesting (I'm making up a Bush-ism to describe the phenomenon).  But his M2 is really phenomenal.  He takes chances with the music throughout the performance -- and they all have a tremendous payoff.  The NYPO also plays out of this world. The only knock is the solo singing.   

[barry guerrero]

Nope, haven't heard that. I'll keep an open mind and an open eye.

[barry guerrero]

"I actually prefer Kozena to Baker"

She's certainly very expressive, that much is true.

[singingfriar]

I think this is one of the best sounding RBCDs I've ever heard.  The capturing of the percussion is out of this world.

I generally like Magdalena Kozena, but I really dislike her Urlicht.  There's so much "precious" straight-toned singing, that the effect is lost and it borders on campiness.  For me, it's virtually the only disappointing aspect of the recording.  I'll stick with Janet Baker, Anne Sophie von Otter or Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.

[barry guerrero]

"The capturing of the percussion is out of this world"

Sure, but the balances are pretty flawed in places. The two sets of timpani come close to dominating throughout the performance, and there are places in the fifth movement where one suspended cymbal manages to drown out an entire brass section playing fortissimo. At the end of the finale, the three tiefe glocken (deep bells) are excellent, but the lower tam-tam all but disappears. I also find it strange that Rattle - a percussionist himself - always seems to get rather inconsistent results with percussion. I sometimes think he spends too much time on the strings.