I got curious about this M6 recording because a horn player friend turned me on to some of her Bruckner (which is quite good). I was knocked out by how good this M6 really is, especially in the finale. The cowbells suck, and I talk about that in the review. But it's not enough of a deterrent for me to give it less than 5 stars. Here goes:
By Amazon Customer on November 25, 2016
Format: Audio CD Verified Purchase
Let's begin with the facts since so many are concerned about these same issues. Simone Young's Mahler 6 is in andante/scherzo order, with the andante placed on the first disc, and the scherzo being the first track on the second disc (no extra tracks within movements). This detail will prevent those who want to listen in scherzo/andante order - my preferred order, by the way - from reprogramming it unless your cd player has a hard-drive, or you're able to burn yourself a copy, etc. Also, Young does reinstate the third hammer stroke towards the end of the finale, but she also reverts to the original orchestration surrounding that third stroke. Most notable is the sudden ascending flourish in the oboes just before the third strike (in the revision, Mahler replaces the oboes with the softer sounding celeste).
Another curious difference lies in the lower woodwinds, two bars before rehearsal number 165 (the start of the lugubrious A-minor dirge in the low brass). In the first version, Mahler has the clarinets and English horn do a sudden descent to their low A, going from piano to fortissimo. They're reinforced by the bassoons and contrabassoon. Together they form a loud and dark sounding A-minor triad just before the dirge. While I'm getting a bit too technical here, one wonders what other hidden jems remain in the first version. Kudos to Simone Young for bringing these interesting details out into the foreground more than Benjamin Zander.
Back to the first three movements, everything operates at a slightly lower voltage. Yet there's still plenty of detail due to the excellent sound quality and fine orchestral execution (this is a live recording, no less!). There's still plenty of heavy treading in the double basses and celli when they grind out Mahler's relentless goose-step in the first movement. Woodwind detail is outstanding. When we get to the second subject - the so called "Alma" theme - we find Young lending a sympathetically 'feminine' touch. Alma doesn't come storming through the front door of Mahler's life here. Yet, Young picks up on the youthful vivaciousness of Alma in the second half of the second subject. Everything snaps back into order. Alles in ordnung, so to speak. I like the contrast and multi-dimensional look at Alma (assuming that that was the intent) One disappointing aspect is the treatment of the cowbells in the softer, 'alpine' interludes.
It's not that the cowbells are inaudible, but they all seem to be small and high pitched. One has to remember Mahler's own words here. He made the comment that he wanted cowbells of all different sizes, which means larger, low pitched ones, as well the little guys. It seems that they understand this point best in those cities that are closest to the Alps: Vienna, Munich, etc. (obvious except being the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, with its long standing Mahler tradition). But all this gets somewhat forgotten, as the last third of the first movement is firm and galvanizing, leading to a rousing and satisfying coda.
Here's my feeling on the middle movement order. If you're going to take 16 minutes or more on the Andante Moderato, then you may as well place it after the first movement. Many conductors are now paring this down to 14 or 15 minutes, which works fine in the scherzo/andante scheme of things. Simone Young comes in at 16:18, but it actually feels more languorous than that (she starts slowly). However, Young really picks up the pace going into the climactic section of the movement - and boy, what a climax! I'm not sure that I've heard this passage done better, even by the strings-heavy Berlin Philharmonic. I always feel that there's a sort of a soporific quality to the last four minutes of the andante, with some conductors even trying for a sort of gossamer effect. Not so with Young! She lays it thick, yet keeps on barging ahead - as though one were mustering a steely reserve for their unavoidable appointment with destiny itself. I think it really works.
Young doesn't take the scherzo proper real fast, but manages not to lose tempo in the slightest as well. All the 'hair-pin' dynamics are perfectly observed too (sudden crescendos and decrescendos). She also does a fine job of making all the sudden tempo shifts in the various trio sections sound effortless. Again, she brings the scherzo to a real climax, which is something that many conductors don't bother with. However, it's in the finale where Simone Young really made me stand up and take notice.
I'm guessing that Young might agree with me that the finale is a symphony within a symphony, and is, therefore, the main focal point of the entire symphony - a key reason why I feel the endless debate on inner movement order is somewhat moot. This is a great tour-de-force under Young's baton.
I always like it when you can tell from the very first note that you're in for a real treat in the finale: the loud pizzicato low "A" in the lower strings, accompanied by plucked harp, contrabassoon and low horns. And a real treat is what we get, for sure. All the loud bashing and banging, whooping and hollering from the brass; it's all there in spades. What's impressive is Young's seamless handling of the quieter moments of repose (save the high pitched cowbells), made interesting by the 'ear candy' procured through Young's unerring attention to the finer details of Mahler's lighter scoring during these moments (great sound helps). The first two hammer strokes are truly impressive and speaker challenging, the second reinforced by the optional cymbals and tam-tam (but not an option in the first version). However, what is most impressive is the bridging passage between the first and second hammer stroke - a passage that I like to give the fanciful and rhetorical title, "wild ride of the headless horsemen across the scorched battlefields of the western front".
Crash, boom, ding, smash - Young pegs the beginning of this section better than anyone else I've heard, without resorting to a ridiculously slow tempo here (Mahler doesn't indicate any ritard in tempo until three bars later at rehearsal figure 134, a point that many conductors ignore or deliberately alter). So much for the feminine touch, if anybody is worried about such things. The main point is this: it's not just loud, but also exact, precise and thrilling - all at the same time.
Those same words apply to the penultimate passage that I refer to as the, "false victory parade" march (11th bar of rehearsal 162). Because Mahler revised this passage, so many conductors underplay it - even lending a sort of impressionistic treatment to it. Not so with Young. She has her unison horns belt out their banal sounding march tune - a derivative of previous shorter motifs - while making certain that the rhythmic "fate" motive in the timpani is fully present. Mahler may have greatly revised the percussion at this point, but he didn't mean for the timpani to simply disappear yet (as so often happens).
To make matters even better, Young takes the previously mentioned A-minor dirge in the lower brass at an appropriately slow gait, while also making the final A-minor outburst at the end of the symphony incredibly slow, powerful and deliberate. There's no room for doubt about the final outcome here.
Barry Guerrero
Topic: B.G.'s Amazon review of Simone Young/Hamburg Philharmoniker M6 (Oehms) (Read 6174 times)