When I was younger, there was rumor going around the trumpet world. Heard it myself when I was at Julliard for a spring break. The rumor was that the opening to this Mahler 5 was recorded in an empty hall, then added in production. Basically, Mehta wanted Phil Smith to play the opening in a similar manner to Tom Stevens for the earlier LA recording of 5th. They get the recording done with New York. It's ready to go. Then, before a rehearsal a few weeks later, he hears Phil playing it how Phil would play it. Zubin says, 'Why didn't you play it like that for the recording?' Phil says, 'You didn't want that.' The story goes that they recorded Phil playing the opening his way, in an empty hall. Adding it in before the production was finished. I've always wondered if it was true. I suppose I could have emailed Phil and asked, but what fun would that be.
Fast forward to this morning/afternoon. Felt like listening to about 30 different takes on the opening of the M5. Back to back. Now I'm convinced this rumor is true. The sound of the hall is different for the opening, very empty, like it's just Phil sitting there by his lonely, then when the entire brass section enters, it changes. You may ask yourself, how come I didn't hear this earlier? This is one of my absolute favorite recordings of anything. It's the first time I didn't pay attention to Phil's playing, and really focused on the sound of the room.
Also, both of Mehtas recordings of the 5th are very similar, there are differences, but to my ear the opening is so drastically different that this must be the case! Does it matter? Not really. Just finding stuff to do with my time in semi-retirement.
Topic: Mehta/Mahler 5/New York Phil (Read 367 times)