What I really like about the newly remastered Jansons/BRSO M3rd

[John Kim]

Sounding wonderful on IDAGIO it surely was remastered for this release: I hear a wider dynamic range, more details, more depth, more edges, enhanced high end and low bass, with no distortions in the loud passages.

Undoubtedly, the success of this recording is to a large extent attributed to alto Natalie Stuztmann. I don't know of a better singing in the Nietzsche movement (IV).

What I really like about the Jansons conducting – despite small quibbles here and there, e.g., the barely audible tam tam in the coda of III., is that he shapes each movt remarkably well. For example, near the very end of Adagio he slightly slows down extending the last note longer than normal. I really like it done that way.

Mariss Jansons' Bavarian Radio account now joins my Mt. Everest list of the great Mahler 3rds.

John

[John Kim]

BR Klassik confirmed that a CD version of the Jansons/BRSO M3rd will be released in early November.

John

[erikwilson7]

I totally agree with you, John. For me, this one came out of left field and caused me to revisit Jansons' other BRSO recordings and sparked a renewed interest in his Mahler for me.

If you take all of his BRSO recordings, sub in one of his M6s, his M4, and his M8, you have one hell of a "cycle" already. Let's hope BR-Klassik gets back to me with info about them eventually putting an entire BRSO cycle together.

And about the tam-tams, I think the BRSO must just have a huge, fat, dark tam-tam. All the major tam-tam points in this M3 seem a bit "underwhelming," but if you listen closely you hear a very bassy, resonant, dark sound with super deep undertones. And this goes for the rest of the BRSO Mahler recordings, even the big tam moment in the first movement of the M9. It's just less "splashy" and more dark and imposing than other recordings we're used to. Just my own observations; I have no idea what tam-tam they actually use. And if you listen to Jansons' RCO recordings you can hear a lot more loud and splashy tam-tam hits, so the guy isn't just glossing over it. Same with his LSO M6 and his early Oslo recordings. In other words, I blame the general audibility on the BRSO's tam and not Jansons himself.

[John Kim]

Erik,

Your keen observations are mine too.

I found one exception: listen to the climax (the final collapse) of M9th I. by Haitink/BRSO. You can hear the big tam tam smash very nicely done, loud, clear and very audible.

Like you said, I am not all that bothered by weak tam tam in general as long as I can hear the deep and brash timber. I do wish Jansons had the tam tam at the end of M3 III louder and clearer, but that's a small price I am willing to pay for the overall outstanding performance.

I'm pretty sure this recording will sound far better on the 48 kHz 24 bit download and the forthcoming CD.

John

[barryguerrero]

The regular CD release in November will be sufficient for me. In the mean time, I'll use Spotify. I can't say that I like Jansons M3 any better than the Dudamel, A. Fischer, or a good number of other ones I already have (I wouldn't discount Haitink's last one either). Whether I will want to bother with a Jansons/BRSO Mahler box will depend greatly on just how good the M6 and M8 are from him. If he hits both of those out of the park, then maybe. I refuse to jump on the Jansons bandwagon simply because he's Jansons. He did tons of boring stuff in Oslo and Amsterdam. Nobody wants to remember that.

[erikwilson7]

Heard that, Barry. I'm not big on his RCO cycle, and the Oslo recordings are very average for me. The RCO cycle is very well-recorded but I prefer a crisper, leaner, and drier sound overall. Those RCO recordings (and also Chailly's) are... mushy. Not in a bad way, but mushy and warm. It's extremely well played, but since the mix is so warm and mushy and reverberate I can't hear a lot of details: most of them involving percussion.

But as far as the BRSO recordings are concerned, I'll jump on a Jansons bandwagon any day. It goes to show how different each orchestra's sound is. It's nice that Jansons' interpretations of these works will be available in two totally different types of recordings.

[barryguerrero]

Sure. Fair enough.

[John Kim]

I have heard the Jansons/BRSO M6th and liked it very much. Overall, it is closer to Boulez/VPO and SKB M6th than Jansons/RCO M6th. Jansons reading is tight, with lots of details, and immaculately played. I think it well deserves to be released.

John

[cilea]

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/mariss-jansons-the-edition/hnum/10602018?lang=en

[erikwilson7]

There it is! Mahlers 1-9! This will be Jansons’ only complete cycle. November 5th, 2021.

[barryguerrero]

I suppose that's a good price for all that, but it's more Mariss Jansons than I'd ever want.

[erikwilson7]

Frankly I won't get this box set; I'm not any sort of Jansons follower. The only useful information for me was that there's going to be a complete cycle, and I generally really like his Mahler.

Hopefully this will be on Spotify, otherwise I'd wait for just a Mahler box.

On a related note, like you Barry I'd rather see more orchestra box sets than conductor ones. I've never been big on the conductor legacy box things. Maybe they're useful for historical purposes or people close to the conductor, but I don't see why I'd need all of Karajan's DG recordings in a 100 CD box, for example. Listening to one man's perspective on several dozens of pieces of art seems like tunnel vision to me.

Symphony cycles are a different story, kind of. Still, the best way to compile a Mahler cycle is with different conductors and orchestras. No one person gets it all right, not even Bertini!

[barryguerrero]

All true. I agree with all of that.