Santtu-Matias Rouval/Philharmonia Orch. Mahler 2nd due on 9/22

[John Kim]

https://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist_Mahler-1860-1911_000000000019272/item_Sym-2-Rouvali-Po-Cho-Eriksmoen-J-johnston_14165991

Santtu recently made an impressive R. Strauss album on the same label.

John

[barryguerrero]

You beat me to the punch. Does anybody need yet another Mahler 2 recording of from the relatively mediocre Philharmonia Orchestra of today? Talk about an orchestra that lives on its past laurels!

[erikwilson7]

Is it just me, or does the Philharmonia always get stuck doing ‘weird’ Mahler? I’m thinking Klemperer M7, late slow Maazel, Sinopoli, etc.

[barryguerrero]

Some people call that 'interpretation'. I prefer your choice of word. Ben Zander's Philharmonia M2 is pretty decent, and has outstanding sound quality (Linn Recordings). However, it is pretty expansive over the finale (trying to copy Klemperer or Maazel, perhaps?).

[John Kim]

Hey, I really liked what Santtu did with Sibelius and R. Strauss - regardless of the orchestras - and that's why I am crossing my fingers crossed about his upcoming M2nd. That's all.

John

[erikwilson7]

I’m looking forward to it. I always want another Mahler 2. I just don’t know anything about Santtu, but I’ll keep an open mind.

[barryguerrero]

Yeah, I know. I just tired of their crappy sounding Paiste tam-tam, and their funky sounding bass drum. There's never enough tuba, or double basses. Even the cellos sound kind of thin and watery. The English call it clarity and playing in tune, but it sounds thin and watery to me. I know some of that has to do with the halls used.

[lschmitz]

Missed the radio broadcast on this one. Quite curious to see how it turned out. I quite like the sound of the Philharmonia horn section.

[erikwilson7]

They also have a really exciting trombone section. You can hear a lot of it in the Maazel Mahler recordings from about a decade ago.

[barryguerrero]

To my ears, the horns are the best section in pretty much any British orchestra. Trombones can be real 'hit or miss'. Tuba is usually a tad too small sounding. There are exceptions.

[barryguerrero]

Brief snippets are up at Presto Classical. They've got them all screwed up. The one that says "Urlicht" is actually the beginning of the finale. And right away, you can hear what's wrong with using Paiste tam-tams, as the stroke at the top of the ascending run in the low strings speaks way too slowly to make ANY impact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40l9Ni_Mejg