What is your single "must-have on a desert island" Mahler work?

[john haueisen]

Very hard indeed, to choose between the Adagio of M3 vs M6.  I can't yet put into words the difference, although I think alpsman's descriptive words of "green, ecological and nostalgic" for M6 are definitely on the right track.  Perhaps they are reminiscent of Mahler's Alpine hikes.
--JH

[Leo K]

What is your single "must-have on a desert island" Mahler work?:

Difficult question. I dare to name Sinopoli's Eighth and Bertini Ninth (Tokyo Metropolitan).

Good choice with the Bertini TMSO M9!  This M9 is very powerful indeed...one of my ultimate favorites (with his EMI M9).

--Todd

[stillivor]

Sorry I'm very late - couldn't find my cufflinks anywhere.

Avoiding the eccentric's choice, 2 under Oscar Fried, I'd choose 6 under Mitropoulos, late 50s,

1)Because it's my fave symph

2)because the Mitropoulos is amazingly electric

and 3) Because in my world, whenever I play 6. dramatic things happen in my life; so I'll be saved soomer and be able to get back to the rest of the ouevre.

Ivor

[john haueisen]

Ivor, I see your point.
For me, M6 fights the whole struggle of life, even confronting that inconvenient truth for all of us of the inexorable approach of death.

If we can taste the delight of the sweeping theme of joy for life, and still watch Mahler play out the inevitable end for all of us, then everything else in life seems easy.
JH

[stillivor]

[I mean 'oeuvre', natch.]


   Ivor

[john haueisen]

Certainment!

[john haueisen]

Thomas Sanderling's M6 (St. Petersburg) is so exceptionally full of life that it is tempting me to consider it as a solitary companion, if stuck marooned on a desert island.
Is this a failing on my part, to be so taken with a symphony that does not end triumphantly?
JH 

[Leo K]

Thomas Sanderling's M6 (St. Petersburg) is so exceptionally full of life that it is tempting me to consider it as a solitary companion, if stuck marooned on a desert island.
Is this a failing on my part, to be so taken with a symphony that does not end triumphantly?
JH 

This CD would be an exceptional choice indeed!  One of my all time favorite Mahler performances.

--Todd