Had a great Mahler night last night

[barry guerrero]

Sometimes I think I'm tired of hearing these same works over and over again. And then, once in a while, I'll have a night like last night. I had a long, tedious receiving/database project to do at one of my jobs. We have a very good pair of speakers close to where I'm working (I forget the brand). Anyway, I played the Boulez/VPO M6, the Barenboim/Berlin Staatskapelle M7 and - finally - the EMI reissue of the Rattle/Birmingham M8. All three of those recordings are great in their own way. I'm also convinced that those three symphonies make for a 'darkness to light' trilogy. It was a very satisfying way to get through a time consuming and tedious project.

Barry

[AZContrabassoon]

Great choices for M6 and M7 - not familiar with the Rattle M8. Never took to his Mahler. I went to LA to hear him deliver M7 and wasn't impressed. His EMI recording of M2 has all of the things that I don't like about him: too much fine detailing, messing around with dynamics (like uncalled for crescendos) and other nonsense. Maybe he's gotten better, one can only hope. The Barenboim 7th is a terrific reading and one of the best ever, but there's one thing about it that I wish he had done differently - the opening string tremolos. Why he followed the Solti tradition of using measured tremolos is something I don't understand. But after that, it's great. Boulez, most surprisingly, turned out to be a great Mahlerite - from his 1970's Das Klagende Lied I guess it was expected, but he's really good at Mahler - and he still won't touch a Tchaikovsky score. Go figure.

[barry guerrero]

Sadly, Pierre Boulez won't be conducting ANY scores, much less Tchaikovsky. My understanding is that he's now bedridden. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, I'm keeping the box of his complete Mahler on DG. Some of the live Mahler performances he did with the BBC S.O. in the latter '70s are pretty interesting too.

As for the start of M7, my score very clearly indicates thirty-second notes for the strings. Given that the opening is a slow, subdivided 4 beat pattern, that's not all that fast. The speed of those notes is the exact same speed as the thirty-second notes that the tenor horn and clarinet play. The entire opening consists of this juxtaposition of thirty-second note and sixteenth note (twice as slow) patterns. Nowhere in my score does Mahler indicate a tremolo. I believe that if Mahler had wanted the strings to play tremolos, he certainly would have indicated that. To me, the measured thirty-second notes make perfect sense but beauty is always in the ear of the beholder.

Speaking of tremolos written by Mahler, my favorite is at the climax of the long march section in the fifth movement of M2, where everything is going completely nuts. Mahler marks for the unison woodwinds to play high tremolos (flutter tounging), but you can never hear them over the brass and percussion. If Mahler had put all the brass and percussion offstage at that moment, it might have made for a very strange 'Ivesian' moment (as in Charles Ives). Maybe more like Berio even.

The Rattle M8 recording is a surprisingly 'straight forward' performance with none of the usual Simon Rattle gimmicks that show up in his recorded Mahler. The cast of soloists is very strong (particularly the women) and the organ roars like a 727 on take-off. It's always better than I remember it being. I just used the Rattle M8 because we have a copy of it at work. Same for the other two also.

[John Kim]

I too like the Barenboim M7th very much. Don't forget Inbal/TMSO/Exton M7th SACD. It' super!

[Roland Flessner]

I have an antipathy to Barenboim's conducting, and I didn't care for his M7 at all. One of his farewell concerts here in Chicago was M9, and it was a disaster. First movement was WAY too fast, and the whole symphony was grey sonic sludge. It's one of very few concerts I would have left if I could have. When he left, Barenboim said he would never conduct the CSO again, and I thought, OK, it's safe to go downtown now.

Orchestra Hall is always troublesome. Haitink, whether you like him or not (I usually do), "scales" the sound of the CSO to the hall, and it sounds much more musical than with some other conductors.

I was very impressed with Jansons/BRSO in M7. It's a strong performance, and for a live concert, the precision of execution is incredible. Fine recording, too.

As for Boulez, I find his Mahler variable, but in my most recent M1 survey, his CSO recording struck me as one of the better ones. And, I will never forget a live broadcast (perhaps mid-1970s) of the complete Miraculous Mandarin with the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom. Just a blistering performance, and much better than either of his commerial recordings (NY and CSO),. although those are both good in their way. Finally, his La Mer, Jeux and Nocturnes from Cleveland (recorded 1991 and '93) are magnificent.

[barry guerrero]

I saw Barenboim do M7 with the CSO in Carnegie Hall and it was really very good. The Bruckner 7 he did there was even better. I'm generally not a fan of his conducting or his piano playing, but I think his commercial recording of Mahler 7 is really very good. The litmus test for me is if a particular recording makes me really like a piece of music, and his recording of M7 does that for me - along with numerous other ones from various conductors/record labels.

Haitink's CSO M6 is both rudderless and boring. His CSO M1 is a complete non-starter. But I do think his CSO M2 is quite good, possible the best one that the CSO has recorded. The M3, on the other hand, is just OK. Sorry, but I think Haitink is basically done. The CSO needs to look for some new, inspired blood. I believe this van Zweden from Dallas would be a great match since he's good at both Bruckner AND Mahler.

And as for Orchestra Hall, you folks need to stop apologizing and do what the Cubs have done: spend some money (build a new hall) and transform yourselves. Stop living on the laurels of a glorious past. A loud brass section that can play in tune (a bi-product of the hall) does not a great orchestra make.

[Roland Flessner]

Haitink had a title here, I think Pnincipal Conductor, in the interval after Barenboim left and before Muti arrived. Now he's just here for one weekend of concerts each season. His M7 here last spring was good.

I don't think the CSO will be playing in a new hall anytime soon. It would be too expensive, and almost impossible to find the real estate downtown. Muti has talked about trying to improve Orchestra Hall, but you can't make a silk purse froma sow's ear. If I want to hear a great orchestra in good acoustics, I have to travel. Good excuse for a road trip anyway.

Northwestern U has a lot of interesting events this fall. Most of my listening to live concerts will be in Evanston, not downtown.

[barry guerrero]

Sorry to hear all that. Hopefully Muti will be successful in his efforts to improve what's there. Can't hurt to try.

[Roland Flessner]

I recall reading that when Ormandy was in Minneapolis, he was asked if anything could be used to improve the acoustics at Northrup Auditorium. "Dynamite," he said. Sure, I hope Orchestra Hall can be improved, but I suspect it's rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

I'll have to check the schedule at the Krannert Center at U of I in Champaign. Great acoustics, and Solti recorded M7 there.

Finally, Haitink is on the CSO schedule for next April 28-30, with a Mozart piano concerto and Strauss's Alpine Symphony. The last time I surveyed Alpines, I thought Haitink's RCO recording was among the best, even though the sound is a bit dated and in that Philips far-back-in-the-hall perspective.

[barry guerrero]

Unless he's become ridiculously slow with his Richard Strauss, that should be a good - if not great - "Alpen Sinfonie". Enjoy.