The return of Marilyn Horne to Mahler

[barryguerrero]

Marilyn Horne is the mezzo on Adam Fischer's coming M2 from Kassel on the ARS Productions label. I'm embarrassed to say that I had thought she had passed.
 
https://naxosusa.com/nrg/2020_09_18_25/html5.html#page/40y.     

[erikwilson7]

If I’m not mistaken, these Kassel recordings were made in the late ‘80s. I like them because it shows how much Fischer’s interpretations have evolved. His Kassel M1 is 6 minutes longer than the Düsseldorf one!

I just looked it up, also to my surprise Horne is still alive and well (let’s hope) aged 86.

That would make her in her mid-fifties for this M2, which is not unusual.

[barryguerrero]

Aaaaah, OK. That makes sense. Thanks.

[erikwilson7]

Still, it's a (commercially) new Mahler 2 with Marilyn Horne! The others we have are Abbado/Chicago and Ozawa/Boston.

[erikwilson7]

My correction, the back of the CD case says it was recorded live in 1991, not 1989.

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/sinfonie-2-auferstehung/hnum/10257650

According to descriptions of the M1 CD, the 1989 concerts included M1, M3, and M4, Totenfeier, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, and eight of the Des Knaben Wunderhorn.

If this M2 is from 1991, I'm assuming we will be getting much more from this series down the line.

[barryguerrero]

.   .     .   and here we thought the boom was ausgeboom'd !   

[erikwilson7]

This recording is on Spotify now. I like the tempi, but there is something just absolutely strange about the sound quality. There’s a weird warbly sound, like this recording is being slowly sucked through a wormhole from space. I noticed it with headphones, at least. Check out the scherzo. The strings sound super weird.

Marilyn Horne sounds good!

[barryguerrero]

Do the notes talk about the recording venue at all, or how it was recorded?

[erikwilson7]

No, there's nothing about that in the notes. It just talks about the history of Kassel, Mahler's time in Kassel, and the performer biographies.

It sounds like glitchy early digital, but it was recorded in 1991. It's just kind of odd. The performance itself is exciting enough. I'd recommend listening on Spotify before doing any purchasing.

If anything, I'm more looking forward to Fischer's Düsseldorf M2 now. The Kassel M1 is 58 minutes (versus 52' with Düsseldorf), and this Kassel M2 is 82 minutes. Given his recent single-disc M8 and M9, I have a feeling the Düsseldorf one will be fleeter and highly detailed. The same probably goes for the future Düsseldorf M6.

[barryguerrero]

Where did you find out about a Dusseldorf M2? I'll do a Google search for the time being.

[erikwilson7]

I should have clarified: that was just my own speculation. My bad

[barryguerrero]

Oh, my mistake. I see now that 52' pertains to A. Fischer's Dusseldorf M1, not M2