D.H. on Solti/LSO M9, available on demand - from Arkiv, I presume

[barry guerrero]

GUSTAV MAHLER
Symphony No. 9
RICHARD WAGNER
Siegfried-Idyll


London Symphony Orchestra
Vienna Philharmonic

Georg Solti

Decca- 430 247(CD)
Reference Recording - Mahler: Karajan II (DG); Ancerl (Supraphon)
 
 


Generally speaking, when it comes to Solti's Mahler, the earlier the better. His LSO recordings of Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, and 9 are superior to his Chicago remakes, while his Chicago analog recordings of Nos. 6 through 8 are more successful than his later, digital efforts. This Ninth is a great, consistently underrated performance. The first movement has a Straussian sumptuousness, with the LSO horn section magnificently to the fore. The fortissimo counterstatement of the opening theme has an unsurpassed feeling of ecstasy, and Solti pegs all of the climaxes with tremendous power. For all that, he never overdrives the music, and there is also plenty of sensitive work from the orchestra at lower dynamic levels.


Both inner movements come off extremely well: the first scherzo gets an aptly clunky (but not too slow) treatment, with stabbing details of color from the brass and winds underlined in the quick waltz episodes. The Rondo: Burleske remains one of the best, as mean-spirited as anyone could ask, culminating in an impressively wild sprint to the finish. I suppose you might ask for a bigger, richer string sound in the finale (since Karajan's two recordings, everyone pales a bit in terms of sheer sonority), but this flowing, songful performance remains at one with the interpretation. The clear sonics flatter the orchestra, though they turn a touch hard and "woody" in the bass, a characteristic of many Decca recordings from this source. Even better, this "on demand" production features Deryck Cooke's superb original booklet notes. I'm delighted that this performance is available once again, particularly as it represents one of the highpoints in Solti's discography.

The coupling, Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, impresses me less. First, Solti opts for solo strings, and the gain in intimacy is offset by a certain saccharine sweetness to the timbre, probably the result of too enthusiastic an application of vibrato by the Viennese players. Anyone who reads my critical work knows I'm hardly a member of the "vibrato is evil" school, but tacky is as tacky sounds. Also, at a touch more than 18 minutes, this performance drags; if you're going to use a chamber ensemble, then the whole piece can be speeded up with no loss of subtle detail. No matter; buy this recording for the Mahler, which is the performance on which I base the rating.


--David Hurwitz



 

[John Kim]

YES!!, Finally it's available again!

This has always been one of my M9th keepers, a dark horse, if you will. I agree mostly with DH's appraisal of the performance but want to add that although Solti's interpretation is in the school of straightforward, nonsense conducting, you'll feel completely drained after hearing this performance. This kind of exhaustness comes from the extreme dynamics that Solti adopts throughout, and it has that curious, eerie effect. For some reason, the sonics in the 1st movt. is not as good as the rest of the recording; perhaps Decca engineers set the volume too highly in the first movt, but later put it down. You figure.

John,

[akiralx]

Solti's interpretation is in the school of straightforward, nonsense conducting...

I trust John will allow me to correct that to 'no-nonsense' - unless I've totally misread the tone of his remarks....

[John Kim]

Thanks for the correction. It should have been 'no-nonsense'.

BTW, Decca has released it on their Eloquence label and it sounds better than the original CD. In encourage you to get that one.

John,

[sperlsco]

Wow, I probably listened to this performance only once -- and that was a few years ago.  I do not remember being impressed with it in any way, shape, or form.  Maybe I am thinking of the Chicago one (which is almost universally considered to be dreadful), although I own both.    I really don't remember the R-B being anything special, and IIRC the Finale is one of those 22' run throughs (way too fast for my taste).  Again, IIRC, the timings actually LOOKED better on the CSO one (faster R-B, slower finale).  I don't remember liking either of them though. 

Since then, I've looked at and dismissed this disc every time I've looked through my collection for an M9 to play.  It looks like I'll need to revisit it now to see if I just missed the boat. 

[from the new world]

Wow, I probably listened to this performance only once -- and that was a few years ago.  I do not remember being impressed with it in any way, shape, or form.  Maybe I am thinking of the Chicago one (which is almost universally considered to be dreadful), although I own both.    I really don't remember the R-B being anything special, and IIRC the Finale is one of those 22' run throughs (way too fast for my taste).  Again, IIRC, the timings actually LOOKED better on the CSO one (faster R-B, slower finale).  I don't remember liking either of them though. 

Since then, I've looked at and dismissed this disc every time I've looked through my collection for an M9 to play.  It looks like I'll need to revisit it now to see if I just missed the boat. 

To an extant I would agree with you in that for most of the rest of the symphony, Solti is not particularly good. However, the first movement is done rather well, and I was surprised at just how effective his interpretation is. In fact, it is one of only two recordings (the other being Tennstedt) that have made me shake in terror at the final and greatest climax. Strangely, the murky sound seems to help, whereas in many other performances greater clarity is preferable.

[barry guerrero]

Good points! - and I agree that the main climax of the first movement is one the best ones ever to have been captured on tape. I like Solti's first three movements, but not so much the fourth one.

Barry