Sinopoli's M7

[Jot N. Tittle]

Merely because it came to hand when I reached, I have just heard Sinopoli's 1992 recording of Mahler's Seventh with the Philharmonia Orchestra. I know that Giuseppe's Mahler productions are considered uneven, but don't recall any mention of his interpretation of M7. Now, I don't know whether it is my state of mind under the influence of a beautiful spring day, but this sounds like a very bright, cheery, and upbeat performance--a positive to an M6 negative. Altogether, it's a romp. Anyone else feel this way about this performance,  or is it just Spring?

     , & '

[barry guerrero]

It's an interesting reading. The first two movements are very expansive, which I like. The second Nachtmusik (fourth movement) is very long - much longer than usual. I normally don't like that, but it's quite beautifully done on the Sinopoli. For me, it's the finale that's a bit of a letdown. If you listen to the beginning of the finale, the timpanist is completely off on his second big flourish. He enters either a beat late, or a beat early - I don't remember which. To me, it's quite obvious and it sounds pretty bad. There are also some flubs in the brass here and there. I wouldn't mind so much if it truly were a live performance. But this was supposed to have been done in studio takes. Somebody should have caught these errors and had them corrected. Then again, on the Sinopoli M3, one of the percussionists bongs a wrong note on the tubular chimes on his/her very first note in the choral "bim-bam" movement. It just sounds awful. And for some reason, one of the chime notes is out-of-tune throughout the entire "bim-bam". I don't know how that's even physically possible - temperture differences don't make them expand or contract anywhere near that much.

[barry guerrero]

.    .     .   I think it must be a beat or two early that the timpanist enters on his second long flourish. I say that because I rememeber the timpanist finishing up before everyone else gets to the same spot.