M6 Recommendations?

[Clov]

I'm very interested in earlier recordings of M6. After hearing Szell's version, with the strangly slow scherzo, it peaked my interest in hearing other classic recordings of the work. I have both the more recent Fischer and Abbado, neither of which do I dislike except for the swapped movement order.

Anyone have some input as to which I should explore, such as Barbirolli or Mitropoulos versions?

[waderice]

A good M6 is Kubelik conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on DG.  I'm sure many other versions recommended by others will appear here.  But that one is my favorite, in addition to the Szell.  It seems to me that controversy reigns supreme in which is the best M6, so I presume you'll need to listen to a good many recordings of it before you decide on your favorite.

Wade

[Roland Flessner]

Kubelik/DG and Barbirolli make a fascinating comparison, because I think both performances work but they are so different. Kubelik's first movement is one of the fastest I've heard, and Barbirolli's is surely the slowest. Kubelik clocks in at 21:07 vs. 21:19 for Barbirolli, with the latter omitting the exposition repeat.

I nominate Rafael Kubelik as the conductor least likely to phone it in. Even when I disagree with his approach, I can never question his sincerity and commitment.

Mitropoulos is intense, and the 1959 live mono sound is quite listenable. You do have to make allowances for its age.

The last time I went through an M6 obsession, my regard for Eschenbach/Philadelphia had grown.

I go hot and cold on Chailly. He is very well recorded and does many things right. Sometimes he sounds anemic, at other times spirited. I also have a schizophrenic reaction to Boulez, depending on my mood.

[James Meckley]

Mitropoulos is intense, and the 1959 live mono sound is quite listenable. You do have to make allowances for its age.

Prior to this 1959 recording with the Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester, Mitropoulos recorded the Sixth with the New York Philharmonic in 1955, a performance I prefer in almost every way to the later one. Unfortunately, it's only available as part of an expensive box set from the NYPO and may be OOP.

James

[Clov]

That's great to know James Meckley, it is that recording I've been eyeing on Amazon, it has some fantastic reveiws.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. Looks like I'm going to have quite a sampling.

[James Meckley]

That's great to know James Meckley, it is that recording I've been eyeing on Amazon, it has some fantastic reviews.

The version Amazon is selling is on the Archipel label and the sound quality is questionable.

James

[akiralx]

Karajan was the recording I first heard and which I still like, but my preferences now are for Leinsdorf and Dohnanyi.

[John Kim]

Among recent releases I like,

Zinman/TOZ/RCA
Pappano/EMI

My all time favorites:

Levi/ASO/Telarc, Tennstedt/LPO/EMI (studio & live), Bernstein/NYPO/Sony

[barry guerrero]

A real 'sleeper' is the MacKerras/BBC Phil. (Manchester) M6 that got issued with a copy of the BBC Magazine about three years ago or so. Even though it's in Andante/scherzo order - which I don't care for on musical grounds - and has a 'knockout' style, third hammer stroke (which I'm also not convinced of), it's still a great M6 performance.

Among my favorites are Boulez/VPO; the Pappano on EMI; Zinman on RCA; Thomas Sanderling/St. Petersburg Phil. (now impossible to find) and Eschenbach/Philly (oddly conducted by superbly played and recorded).

The Karajan has always been rated quite highly by the English, but I'm not a fan. It's awfully fast in the first movement; has trios sections in the Scherzo that go way too slowly; has an Andante movement that's dragged-out to the point of becoming a Brucknerian adagio (which it ain't), and has somewhat anemic hammer-strokes in the finale. It does have great deep bells at their two spots in the finale.  It also comes with those great Ruckert Lieder/Kindertotenlieder performances with Christa Ludwig. But then again, so does Karajan's earlier studio recording of M9 - an M9 performance that both John Kim and I like quite a bit.   

The Dohnanyi/Cleveland M6 is superbly played and recorded. However, rather unfortunately, It has metallic 'pings' for hammerstrokes - something that Mahler clearly indicates NOT to do.

Among ones that are easily accessible, I think the Pappano is really good from beginning to end. It's a very powerful performance without also being slow and ponderous. It's also quite well recorded for a recent EMI (which aren't always the best, these days).

But as for Mitropolous and Barbirolli, you shoud try to hear them both. The Mitropolous M6 is quite fast throughout, but it also has a proportionally fast scherzo (which many fast performances don't). If you find that you like the Mitropolous, you might want to sample Kiril Kondrashin's M6 as well. His is also fast and exciting from beginning to end.

Barbirolli, on the other hand, is among the slower renditions available. Yet, there's a sort of relentless, hypnotic quality to it that's not at all inappropriate. However, I prefer the 'live' Barbirolli M6 that was issued on Testament and fits on to one disc. Obviously, it's a somewhat faster performance (but also without an exposition repeat in the first movement).

[Clov]

Thanks for the detailed recommendations Barry. I'd of thought Amazon has a mp3 of the Thomas Sanderling but no? I have some listening to do.

[Damfino]

My all time favorites:

Levi/ASO/Telarc, Tennstedt/LPO/EMI (studio & live), Bernstein/NYPO/Sony

I quite like both Tennstedt versions as well.

[techniquest]

I've no idea if it's still available anywhere, but the Levine / LSO recording on RCA has always been a top one for me (along with the Barbirolli studio recording).

[barry guerrero]

You can get the Levine/L.S.O. M6 in that new Levine Mahler box that RCA has issued as an import. However, it would be better if Orfeo - or somebody else - would issue the M6 that Levine did with the VPO at the Salzburg Festival somewhere in the mid or latter '80s. That was far better in my book.