Bernstein's Tempi

[gabyb]

Hi everyone

I just got the Bernstein I box-set (on LP) and was struck on first listening by the tempi he chose on the symphonies I know, esp. the 2, 4 and 6 first movements.  The 2 feels very slow, and 4 and 6 very fast (first mov. only).  What's more, within what seem to me estreme tempi, there are parentheses of passages at what strike me as more normal tempi.  Now, I don't have scores for any symphonies, so my ability to judge his decisions is limited by my ear alone.  STill, I'm curious what others make of this.  For reference, the tempi that seem right, to my ear, in terms of making musical sense are: Kubelik for 2, Mehta for 4, Zinman for 6.  One more thing, having just also gotten Klemperer's 2nd, I noticed he and Benrstein play the ascending figure at the beginning in a similarly rushed manner, which ruins the first theme for me in those performances.  Can someone tell me what the markings are for that on the score?  Again, my reference for 'rightness' is Kubelik.  Thanks in advance,

GB

[Leo K]

These are good questions.  Regarding tempi choices the best way to judge this is to follow with the scores many times.



--Todd

[barry guerrero]

Since Mahler never used metronome markings, it's difficult to know exactly what to do. He often times would make contradictory markings in the score. The beginning of the 6th symphony is a perfect example of one these Mahlerian puzzles. He writes "allegro energico", but then modifies it in a way that makes you think twice (I don't remember the exact marking, and I don't have time to dig my score out right now). But examples of this sort of thing abound all over.

One example where some conductors completely ignore what Mahler writes - Abbado, being a culprit here - is with the middle movement scherzo of his 7th symphony. Mahler has a "nicht zu schnell" marking there. In fact, he warns all over the place, not to take that movement too swiftly. Mahler also uses a lot of "don't drag/don't rush" type of markings too. You really have to stare at the scores for a long time, and greatly consider tempo relationships - the relationship of tempi from one section to the next.

[James Meckley]

Speaking of Mahler's score markings, here's a set of German-to-English translations of some of his markings in the first symphony, prepared for the New Philharmonia Orchestra of Newton, Massachusetts, prior to their recent performance of that work. It might prove revelatory to anyone here wanting to dig deeper into Mahler's true intentions.

http://medicine-opera.com/2009/04/08/mahlers-markings/

James

[barry guerrero]