What are your recording “acid tests”?

[barryguerrero]

Everybody has made well thought out comments here. I can add nothing.

[erikwilson7]

Roland, it's interesting you mention the Salonen / LAPO recording. That was the first recording that really "got me into" Mahler 4, and it's one that is hardly ever discussed anymore. I haven't listened to it in a long time so I revisited it and forgot how amazing that one is. It's still got to be near the top of the pile for me. The sound quality is rich and warm, and Barbara Hendricks' performance on the finale ranks with the absolute best.

Thanks for the tidbits on Elsie Morison, I didn't know any of that besides the marriage to Kubelík. And I'll really need to check out the Ozawa, Litton, and revisit the Inbal.

Regarding other recordings of Mahler 4, I'm wondering if anyone has opinions on the following recordings that I really admire lately, and are often overlooked:

Gustavo Gimeno / Orchestra Philharmonique du Luxembourg featuring Miah Persson, 2018 Pentatone, 54'

• I think Persson might sound even better here than on Iván Fischer's
• Amazing sound quality

Bernard Haitink / BRSO featuring Juliane Banse recorded live in I believe 2004, released 2019 as part of the M3, M4, M9 Haitink BRSO set (56')

• Extremely characterful playing from the BRSO, possibly their best M4 recording
• Banse might sound better here than the Boulez recording

Markus Stenz / Gürzenich-Orchester Köln feat. Christiane Oelze, 2011 Oehms, 54'

• My favorite EVER recording of the second movement; it puts me in a trance
• The third movement is wonderfully characterized; listen for those cute string glissandi!

Jonathan Nott / Bamberger Symphoniker feat. Mojca Erdmann, 2010 Tudor, 55'

• This recording is kind of "Boulez-ian" in perfection, but that doesn't necessarily equate to greatness, but I love it
• Erdmann is also a wonderful soloist

Ádám Fischer / Düsseldorfer Symphoniker feat. Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, recorded live in 2016, Avi, 56'

• This has sort of been my "reference" recording lately: wonderfully characterized, light, playful... it's like a modern Kubelík to my ears, and Müller is sufficiently adequate
• The third movement climax is very much in the vein of the old Bernstein and Kubelík: not grandiose or bombastic, but almost fantastical and whimsical, Disney-like (and you can really hear the harps, everything!)

This has really evolved into a wonderful discussion about Mahler 4!

[Roland Flessner]

With all this intensive listening, I'm reaching an M4 saturation point. I might have to wait three or four hours before I can listen to another one.

Of those you mention, I have Stenz, and I’ll have to take it for a spin. In general, I don’t care for his mannerisms, and I’ve found the SQ lacking in transparency for modern recordings. But then again, I often form a different impression when I haven’t heard a recording for a while.

Some of the others are available on YT and I’ll have to check them out. Thanks for the recommendations.

A couple others I’ll mention:

Bertini: One of the better recordings in the box, with SQ that is quite good. It’s a sensitive and effective performance.

Michiyoshi Inoue / Royal Phil: I’ve always liked this recording, and listening to it last week, it certainly held up. I like his M5 and M6 RPO recordings, too. Oddly, they seem to have disappeared from the catalog and I haven’t seen them in my usual brick-and-mortar stores lately. Even more oddly, Presto shows no recordings by him available at all. I do see some issues from Japan, mostly on Exton, of Mahler, Bruckner, and Shostakovich, available on Amazon. The audiophile CDs are hideously expensive but MP3s are cheap.

Inoue conducted M9 here in Chicago a number of years ago. The parts I heard on the radio were excellent and I regret not going to hear it in person. In an interview, he said that as a mixed-race person he identifies with Mahler (remember the famous “thrice homeless” statement) as one who often feels out of place.