Eduard van Beinum conducts the Seventh live

[SerpyLuna]

Fellow Mahlerians, I'm happy to tell a new 1958 concert of the Mahler Seventh, by Eduard van Beinum and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, has surfaced. Thanks to the efforts of the Dutch Mahler Foundation, this concert has been released on CD! The CD will be distributed internationally. I allready had the pleasure to enjoy this wonderful recording. Inspired conducting and characterful playing go hand in hand in this outing, only marred by the sonics, hardly audiophile though perfectly listenable.

I have allready written a review for this CD, to be found on this page:

http://www.mahlerreviews.com/reviews_recent.html

All in all, a magnificent performance! 

[Constantin]

Very nice review of van Beinum's M7.  It makes me want to look for it at all my usual CD sources.

Welcome to the GMboard, SerpyLuna!

[SerpyLuna]

Thank you, Constantin, I was allready registered on this board, but I forgot my password 

I can well imagine you wanting to get this CD, it was a terrific performance! 

[SerpyLuna]

With kind permission of the people behind the release of this CD, I have uploaded a fragment of the Rondo Finale, conducted by Van Beinum. It can be downloaded on this page:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/FriendsOfGustavMahler/message/108

Enjoy 

[stillivor]

Will be very pleased if soeone could say when this performance is issued.



    Ivor

[James Meckley]

Here's another review, posted in a Usenet newsgroup:

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I received the CD in the mail today and I have heard the whole thing twice now. Here are my first impressions.

Obviously, all Mahler, Van Beinum, and Concertgebouw Orchestra completists should buy this. I know the Seventh (not my favorite Mahler symphony) only from recordings by Haitink, Chailly, Kondrashin, and Klemperer. In comparison, this spirited live performance sounds pleasantly quick, expressive and lively. It's far from boring, but not that special either.

The timings are approximately as follows:
20:11 [ii] 14:07 [iii] 8:45 [iv] 10:25 [v] 16:09
Total 69:37

The sound of this mono recording varies between mediocre and fair. It's certainly not good by 1958 standards, even for live recordings. I can't read scores, but I hear nothing particularly unusual, except perhaps somewhat more string portamento than in the other recordings I know. This could be a remnant of Mengelberg's influence, I suppose.

It is of course tempting to believe that this 1958 performance reflects the Concertgebouw Orchestra's pre-war Mahler tradition. Maybe they used Mengelberg's notes, but don't forget that this orchestra had not performed this symphony since 1934/35.

All in all, I am glad I bought this CD, and I recommend it to people taking a special interest in Mahler's 7th symphony (not everybody's cup of tea), Van Beinum's recordings, or historical recordings.

However, I am not inclined to recommend it to anyone else, because in my opinion it is not quite in the category of those indispensable, revelatory, hair-raising & breathtaking historical recordings. Of course I am grateful to the Dutch Mahler society: the tape is a wonderful discovery, the CD is nicely produced, the service was prompt, and the price (EUR 15 incl packaging and postage within the Netherlands) is very reasonable. Bravo!

Ref.:
Mahler - Symphony No.7
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Eduard van Beinum conducting
Live recording of 4 June 1958, not previously issued
GMSN-001 released 2012 by Gustav Mahler Stichting Nederland
www.gustavmahlerstichting.nl

--
Roland van Gaalen
Amsterdam
r.p.vangaalenATchello.nl

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James

[barry guerrero]

Wow! These are some zippy timings. 10:25 for the 4th Mvt. is right up there with Boulez and Jarvi. 16:09 for the finale is pretty darn quick too - right there with Kondrashin. Interesting - very interesting.

[Last_Evolution]

Did anyone get this recording? Please can you share it?

[barryguerrero]

From my perspective, this is more of the 'same old, same old'. By that, I mean that either conductors do the entire work fast, or they do the entire work slow. Again, I'm looking for people who recognize the that 7th is a gradual transition from darkness to light. I can only speak for myself: I do not like 20 minute first movements in M7. The harmonies are too rich, too complicated and the rhythm of those chord changes is too quick for the entire movement to be taken fast. I think the entire symphony needs to be treated as a very gradual accelerando.

Furthermore, think of the moment where the main theme from the first movement (in minor) suddenly reappears near the end of the finale. Think of the tempo at its reappearance. The tempo for the main allegro in the first movement should be no faster than how it reappears in the finale. Also, a quick 2nd movement (first Nachtmusik) just doesn't work. It robs that movement of any sense of nocturnal mystery. My ideal timings for M7 look more like: I - 23:00; II - 16:00; III - 9:30 to 10:00; IV - 12:30; V - 17:00