It's that time again: your best Mahler for 2009

[sperlsco]

I've spent $$ already getting the Nott M9th, Zinman M7th, and Fischer M4th SACDs  . Now your enthusiasm about the Honeck M1 makes me to continue to throw away my hard earned money .

Is there an end??

John,

I would tell you to skip the Zinman M7 in favor of the Jansons/BRSO one, but I recognize that our tastes in M7 differ.   

Frankly, I probably didn't NEED another M1...but I could say the same thing about M2
...and M3
...and M4
...and M5
...and M6
...and so on!
 

[waderice]

Since I'm recently retired, I have to watch how I spend my slush money, and can't buy every Mahler symphony recording that comes along.   In addition to this forum, I'm going to have to take into consideration not only what people say here, but elsewhere, before I spend my decreased funds for any new recordings, Mahler and non-Mahler.

Since I live in the DC area, I recently bought the Gergiev M8, since that recording has the Washington Choral Arts Society involved, and I recognize some names listed in that group that I sang with years ago in other choral groups that were listed currently as Choral Arts members.  If the Gergiev M8 had gotten "thumbs down" all around, I probably would not have bought it, but I get the impression overall that it got about a 6 (maybe 7) out of 10.  The fact that Gergiev used brisk tempi made purchase of the recording all the more better economically, since it fits nicely on one disk.  About the only one thing that I would have to say critically of the recording is that I believe St. Paul's Cathedral wasn't the most ideal place to make any kind of a recording.  If I were in the audience during the concerts, I probably would not have been able to understand any of the words sung by the choruses, but close-up miking helps compensate for that.

Wade

[barry guerrero]

To my mind, the music in M8 expresses far more than either text ever could. The Goethe text makes almost no sense without some background information regarding the whole "Faust" issue in general. I'm sure you're right in guessing that it would have been very difficult to make out the words at the concert. But I don't think that that would hove prohibited me from enjoying such a concert, IF the particularly seats that I had were in a reasonably strategic spot. I'm sure there were plenty of awful seats though. Regardless, Gergiev's M8 recording keeps growing on me. I would rate it much higher than a 6 or 7.

Barry