Eschenbach will make full Parisian Mahler cycle available on Medici TV (read on)

[barry guerrero]

Dear Friends,

In connection with the 150th anniversary of Gustav Mahler's birth, as well as my own 70th anniversary in 2010, christoph-eschenbach.com, in collaboration with the websites of the Orchestre de Paris and Medici TV will each offer a unique free streaming experience of all of Gustav Mahler's Symphonies.

Each month, starting on February 19, 2010 and then on the 15th of each month thereafter, a new symphony of Gustav Mahler will be put online for free streaming at mahler.christoph-eschenbach.com. Each symphony was recorded with the Orchestre de Paris under my direction and filmed by the director François Goetghebeur. By October 15, 2010 the complete symphonies will be online for streaming and remain accessible until at least July 2011. The symphonies will be made available and then remain online thereafter as follows:

    * February 19, 2010: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"
    * March 15, 2010: Symphony No. 6
    * April 15, 2010: Symphony No. 1
    * May 15, 2010: Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand"
    * June 15, 2010: Symphony No. 9
    * July 15, 2010: Symphony No. 5
    * August 15, 2010: Symphony No. 4
    * September 15, 2010: Symphony No. 3
    * October 15, 2010: Symphony No. 7


For me, this is my gift and tribute to Gustav Mahler, and I hope that you enjoy watching and listening to the complete symphonies during the Mahler years of 2010 and 2011. One can celebrate an important anniversary in many ways, but I have chosen to celebrate my own 70th birthday, on February 20, with a concert in the company of  many of my musician friends and the Orchestre de Paris, performing for the public in Paris, to whom I am forever grateful.

(B.G.) Here's a link to Medici TV: http://www.medici.tv/

[John Kim]

This will a fantastic Mahler cycle.

Thanks for the info, Barry.

John,

[oscar]

His Mahler readings in Paris have received, in general, very negative critics and comments. (see www.concertonet.com)

I myself saw the Mahler 7 there, and it was quite bad.

Nothing to be happy about, this next release.   But there is so much better mahler around.......

[John Kim]

His Mahler readings in Paris have received, in general, very negative critics and comments. (see www.concertonet.com)

I myself saw the Mahler 7 there, and it was quite bad.

Nothing to be happy about, this next release.   But there is so much better mahler around.......

I find your comments odd.

His M6th recording with PO is nothing less than superb. For me and Barry it is the definitive modern version of the symphony. I heard two M9ths by him with NDR orchestra and PO, and they too were excellent. I also have Eschenbach's M1st and M5th with HSO which have been raved by some critics.

John,

[John Kim]

Back in early 90s, Eschenbach led the greatest and most powerful M1st I ever heard with BSO at Tanglewood.

To this date, my vivid memory of the concert is still hovering in my head.

John,

[barry guerrero]

I think that the problem with Eschenbach is quite similar to the one with Maazel. If you watch a lot of Mahler with Eschenbach, the slow tempi will most likely begin to wear on you. I do think that Eschenbach is the more interesting and insightful, "slow" conductor.

That said, I do wish that conductors and listeners would get over this notion that slower performances equals performances that are more intense. The intensity is already written into the music. Going too slow usually just means that singers and wind players run out of breath (you can hear that if you listen for it), and that the "classical" structure of these works simply get stretched out of proportion. It's like stretching the sleeves on a sweater (or some other poor analogy). Would you take a Haydn symphony super slow? How 'about a Mozart symphony? How many people are specializing in slow performances of Beethoven these days?

I sampled just the ending of the "Resurrection" symphony on the Medici TV sight (www.medicitv.com) , and Eschenbach DEFINITELY stretched out the final choral passages much, MUCH more than he did on the Philadelphia performance that was captured by Ondine Records.

I noticed that Dutoit is doing Mahler 3 with Philly this year. I'm willing to bet that Dutoit's performance will "hang together" much better than what Eschenbach did with it. M3 is a piece that - while you don't want to rush the two outer movements too much - you do need to keep the inner movements flowing along. In my book, all of the more successful Mahler 3 performances are like that. It's easy to let this piece die along the way. Many have managed to do just that.

Mahler 7 is a piece that - for me - few people still seem to get completely right. While the finale doesn't need to go super fast from start to finish, it does need to build up momentum along the way. As the music becomes more "nuts", so should the tempi follow. But performances that have fast finales, tend to have really fast first movements as well. I think the guys who do the first movement around 24 minutes aren't wrong. But those same "slow guys" tend to be slow throughout. Why can't people see that the 7th is a "darkness to light" symphony that needs to start out on the slower side for the first two movements; not be too fast in the scherzo (Mahler indicates clearly not to take the scherzo too fast), and then gradually gain speed over the course of the last two minutes? Why is that such a difficult concept to grasp? Frankly, the one conductor who has come closest to my ideal timings for the 7th has been Kent Nagano.

Thanks for letting me vent on these topics.

[Leo K]

Thanks for sharing your views Barry.  As much as I tend to gravitate toward the slower side I do agree that slowness doesn't always equal intensity.  Some Mahler works don't work as well if played too slow, as the M2, M3, M7 and M8.  Yet, I don't mind a little push and pull in the structure if the end result is not too far fetched or out of score, i.e., Klemp's M7 to name one example (although I still like that one for it's strangeness).  On the other side of the coin faster doesn't always mean better if there is no nuance or subtley in the details.

I can take either fast or slow as long as it's interesting and ravashing in tone.  The Oue M9 for instance, very slow but very interesting!  Not boring!  Or for a faster M9 listen to the Barenboim...it's just as great!  But take the finale too fast and you have Walter's 18 or so minute adagio...

Then we have the issue of the M6 and the Andante, where it has been stretched up to 19 minutes...this may be wrong, but I LIKE IT.  What can I do?  The pandora's box has been opened and there's no turning back for me.  I don't always discount the markings in the score. I do like faster M6's here and there (like Sanderling) but when stetched by the likes of Karajan, Bernstein (with VPO), or now this Maazel M6 it can be a stunning experience, despite Mahler's original marking.  So, I guess I'm a liberal when it comes to Mahler's music!  

--Todd

[vvrinc]

Some conductors should be heard and not seen. (This came to mind while watching Mr. Eschenbach's M2.)

[sbugala]

Some conductors should be heard and not seen. (This came to mind while watching Mr. Eschenbach's M2.)

True.  I blame the editing. Just because you can edit, doesn't mean you SHOULD edit.  Wow! It was like Mahler for someone who has had too many Mountain Dews. Still, it was nice to watch if for a little bit.

[alpsman]

I have a M5 in dvd with the Philadelphia from Tokyo and consider it one of the best .
And I a going to listen Eschenbach with the Paris in Mahler 1 at the end of the week. I'll post my impressions after the concert.