Gustavo Gimeno M4 w/ Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Miah Persson

[erikwilson7]

I haven’t found any discussion of this recording on the forum yet. I overlooked this in a sea of releases in 2018 and finally got around to it. My initial thoughts:

It might be a sleeper hit. I gave it a listen and was so impressed I listened through again. This is one of the finest modern Fourths I’ve heard on all accounts: conducting (so much nuance!), performance (bravo!!), and sound quality (that luscious sound!!!). Miah Persson even out-sings herself from the highly acclaimed Iván Fischer recording.

Gustavo Gimeno with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg: WOW. Sometimes it’s the relatively unknown folks out of left field who surprise you the most with Mahler’s music. I’m curious about what others on here think of this gem.

[barryguerrero]

I've been wondering about this recording, Erik, as I very much liked the brief samples I've heard. What do think of Colin Mathew's enlargement of the piano quartet movement?

If I hadn't bought both the Adam Fischer and Gatti/Concertgebouw M4 recordings, I would have gone for the Gimeno one instead. However, it is on Spotify, so I'll listen to it there.

[erikwilson7]

As a standalone piece of symphonic music I found Colin Matthews' enlargement of the Piano Quartet movement good, however it doesn't quite sound like how Mahler would have orchestrated it. It doesn't sound much like Mahler, but rather Tchaikovsky. The way the cymbals are utilized in the climaxes sounds like the Romeo and Juliet overture, and the usage of the bass drum reminds me of Manfred, to be specific. It's hard to say because to me Mahler's piano quartet sounds vastly different from everything else he composed.

When the tam-tam entered at the end I was like "ahh, there's Mahler!" Like I said though, solely as a piece of symphonic music it's enjoyable.

[barryguerrero]

Thanks! I did listen to it on Spotify. I liked it. But as is so often the case when they orchestrate chamber or piano works, it sounds like a very different piece. That just goes to highlight the power and effect that orchestrations do have, in general.