4 new recordings being discussed BBC Radio 3 sat.morn.

[stillivor]

This morning fom 10.45, recent recordings from Tennstedt{!}, Haitinck, Zinman and Paavo Jarvi.
Available online after from BBC iPlayer.


   Ivor

[stillivor]

Correction - Macal not Jaarvi, and the Zinman will be the 6th.


   Ivor

[stillivor]

Further correction - 10.30, not 10-45.


   Ivor

[barry guerrero]

They'll like the live Tennstedt M6 best, which is fairly predictable. It would certainly be very different than the Zinman.

The Paavo Jarvi disc looks totally unnecessary to me: Blumine; Totenfeier; M10 Adagio; B. Britten's reduction of M3/II.

[stillivor]

Andrew McGregor, the prog's presenter, and reviewer, is a coolish guy,[and British] who thus thought Tenn goes a bit far emotionally, and liked the coolness and precision of Zinman and Macal.

I like the more emotional view poy-s-nlly.


   Ivor

[Michael]

I saw the Tennstedt M6 on iTunes for the first time eather Saturday (7/18) or yesterday (7/19).  Is it anything worth hearing?  From the samples, the accostics seem very good.  Is this Tennstedt anything new?

[sperlsco]

I saw the Tennstedt M6 on iTunes for the first time eather Saturday (7/18) or yesterday (7/19).  Is it anything worth hearing?  From the samples, the accostics seem very good.  Is this Tennstedt anything new?

I bought this one about a month ago from MDT.  Last week, I noticed that it is now available as a download from emusic.  I've only listened to the first movement, but it disappointingly sounds like a mediocre-quality radio rip.  I haven't spent the time to gauge the actual performance yet, although I tend to be a big fan of live Tennstedt. 

[Michael]

I do not much like the idea of being the Frank Rich of Mahler 6 recordings, and if someone more qualified has a differing opinion, please feel free to voice it.  I am operating without knowledge of the score and consider myself a casual critic at best.  I know what I like in a Mahler 6, and I have attempted to set my personal feelings aside and look at it from a more balanced viewpoint.

From the iTunes samples, I was impressed by the acoustics of the new Tennstedt/London Philharmonic Mahler 6 release.  I still am impressed by the sound in the hall where this was recorded—where was this taped, by the way?

Upon a closer listening, though, I found many things that I have fault with.  First and foremost, the playing is rather sloppy; I do not have access to a copy of the score (I could read it using Braille music, but that would take a while and be very difficult), but I have heard other live Sixths.  Generally, in these other live recordings everything as far as the notes are concerned sounds the same.  Not with this Tennstedt recording, however.  Most noticeably (after a casual listen of at least part of all four movements), the passage leading up to the first hammer blow is lacking the trumpets that--for me, at least--seem to be the dominant force in the melody.  The passage sounds empty--to an extent--without said trumpets.  Another thing that comes to mind are intonation flaws throughout the work.  I will, if people actually wish for such details, go back and listen through for specific examples.  Bottom line...there are some things that just don't sound right here.

Another issue unrelated to the performance is how the audio sounds in compressed iTunes Plus format.  I can actually notice that the file has been compressed--listen to the opening part of the Andante to see what I mean for the best example)--and that disappoints me given that iTunes Plus format is equivalent to CD quality.  I have no idea if it sounds better in straight MP3 format and I have no plans to find out. ;-)

[barry guerrero]

I think you've got pretty darn good ears there, AMTK62. It seems to me that really compressed sound often times makes flaws and out-of-tune playing more distracting than if the sound is spacious and truly good. Perhaps this performance is middle-of-the-road between Tennstedt's studio recording, and the live one that EMI issued in the early '90s. That last one was really powerful and expressionistic. I wouldn't want to hear done that way every time, but it sure made its point.

Barry

[Leo K]

Amt and Barry just reminded me that I ordered that live early 90's Japan Tennstedt ages ago and still haven't listened!  I will have to correct this oversight very soon!


--Todd

[mahlerei]

AMTK62

The Tennstedt Mahler 6 is a Proms performance recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall on 22 August 1983. Two things to bear in mind, re the recording quality. First, the RAH is a notoriously difficult acoustic at the best of times, even more so at the height of summer (no air-conditioning). Second, it's a BBC radio recording, so I imagine there's some compression involved (a topic aired by grumpy listeners every year).

The famous Horenstein Mahler 8, recorded in the same venue in 1958, was a technical marvel for its time. Apparently it was meticulously prepared - there's no substitute for good engineering - and it still sounds remarkable 50 years on. A Desert Island M8, in my view.

The RAH was refurbished some years back and it's still a fascinating building used for indoor tennis and other sporting fixtures, as well as hosting the annual BBC Proms. The organ was restored, too. Many years go the acoustic problems were addressed with ceiling mounted deflectors - affectionately known as 'mushrooms' - but in my experience smaller scale works are not wholly successful in such a large space. However, Berlioz, Mahler and other large-scale composers do tend to work rather well here.

Dan

[Michael]

Barry - Thank you!

Leo - if you make a digital copy of that, let me know please.

Dan - thank you for the information--I didn't know any of that before!

While we're talking about the Proms, are the Proms recorded every year?  I'm interested in trying to get a hold of that CSO M6 that I heard was really good last year.  There is also a great Pomp and Circumstance recorded in (I think) 2000 that I found a recording of that sounds like it is from a video.

[mahlerei]

Michael

Yes, the Proms are all broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and streamed on their shiny new iPlayer. A handful are televised. Quite a few have appeared on the BBC Legends label over the years but as you can imagine the corporation is still sitting on a huge archive of unreleased material. What I'd give to look through that database...

Dan

[stillivor]

Tiny correction.

The M8/Horenstein was '59 - we've recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.


   Ivor

[mahlerei]

I stand corrected