DH gives 7/8 for M7 Zinman/TOZ/RCA

[John Kim]

Interestingly, this performance is the exact opposite of the recent Mariss Jansons recording. Where that one was micro-managed and italicized, this one is insufficiently contrasted. David Zinman tends to take the slow music quickly and the quick music moderately, and the result tends to sameness. This causes particular problems in the first movement, where the introduction seems not to accelerate sufficiently into the initial allegro. Or consider the opening paragraph of the finale, which starts off sounding great, but then bogs down as it proceeds. It's quite odd and really uncharacteristic of Zinman's Mahler thus far. Granted, he's not into wild swings of tempo at the drop of a hat, but he's usually more sensitive to the music's ebb and flow than here.

As in so many performances, the inner movements come off best. The scherzo particularly has a nice, crepuscular flow, with lots of characterful woodwind detail. Many listeners also will like this quick account of the second Nachtmusic, and in the slow episodes of the finale, again, Zinman invests the music with appealing personal touches. All the more peculiar, then, that he misses the big picture. Sonically this production is good but lacking in bass, with heavy brass and percussion rather too backwardly positioned. As a result the closing pages aren't as raucous as they need to be. This should have been a highlight of Zinman's cycle, but curiously it isn't.

--David Hurwitz

(NOTE: Thread Title Clairified by Mod)

[John Kim]

I concur that Zinman's 7th is not as successful as his 6th. Zinman's reading overall lacks certain 'ardor' that other versions say, Lenny, MTT and Gielen have. It's a bit too smooth and as DH put it, without much contrast.

I'd have given it 8/9 rating.

John,

[barry guerrero]

I like this recording better than David does, and would rate it a bit higher. In particular, I like the first four movements very much. I think the slow, centrally placed "moonlit" episode in the first movement is to die for. I also like how you can - for once! - hear the damn offstage cowbells in the first Nachtmusik - the episode where the horns play their lonely sounding signals back and forth. I also very, VERY much like Zinman's fourth movement (2nd Nachtmusik). For me, it's the finale where David's criticisms are most on the mark. Zinman simply needs to let loose and allow the back half of the finale to go bonkers. I do, however, feel that their is sufficient percussion and brass noise at the finale's final peroration.

In general, David has not given the Zinman cycle high marks, and I think his reasons are valid. However, I do like most of this cycle, simply for its sheer musicality without also sounding boring at the same time (in my opinion). Higher than normal playback levels definitely help.

I do not like the Gielen M7 recording in the finale at all. It's simple too slow and dour sounding.

[Russ Smiley]

I like this recording better than David does, and would rate it a bit higher....
.... Higher than normal playback levels definitely help. ...

Ditto to yours and John's comments.  I actually think the 'moderation' works, though I also agree that a little more abandon here and there would not have spoiled the performance.  David criticism that there isn't enough contrast is exactly the problem I had with the much-lauded Addado/CSO: for me it was too manic.  His Berlin recording, however, I really like.  Same goes for Barenboim's and Bertini's.

I also agree that the Zinman recording level is a tad too low.  However, one of the aspects of cycle that I've appreciate is that these RCA recordings  have both a clarity and also a 'correct' spacious perspective (at least with my very modest equipment).  In my opinion, Zinman's are closer to what I've experienced when I had good seats (the most recent example being a M9 performance when I was maybe 50 ft from the stage and could easily discern individual voices and their location on stage).  Most of us will never get the chance to stand beside the podium to hear what the conductor hears in a performance, so recordings with that perspective, while fascinating treats, are not authentic to my experiences in the concert hall.  So, overall, this one is an 8/9 in my book.

[barry guerrero]

Ditto. I would give it an 8/9.

[etucker82]

I'm going to third the comments here.  I think Zinman's Mahler 7 is quite good, though not great.  Which is how I generally feel about what I've heard in this cycle.  Growing up in 90's Baltimore, Zinman was 'my' conductor and there is no justice in the world that a Lorin Maazel can get appointments to every big orchestra while a Zinman has to languish on the B-list.  Zinman has been underrated only because he was a generation ahead of his time: it's now common practice in America to heed HIP research, champion American composers, and speak to audiences.  But when Zinman began to do it, it was kind of revolutionary and he never got his due credit for any of it. 

I sort of felt a tinge of disappointment when I heard about plans for this cycle.  For such an eclectic conductor, there is not much good reason to get a Mahler cycle recorded on RCA unless you feel like you're owed more prestige than you have.  Zinman's other recordings with the Tonhalle have almost all been wonderful (the Strauss cycle will get its due credit in time) but that's because they all have newly minted approaches to overly-played repertoire.  Zinman's approach to Mahler is not altogether too different from other more famous conductors of his generation.  I'd have much rather heard Zinman do virtually any other important composer from the German line.  I can testify from many wonderful hours in the concert hall to the fact that he is one of the all-time great Haydn and Mozart conductors.  And he's no slouch in Schubert or Bruckner either.  A series of recordings of any one of those composers would be far more necessary than a somewhat assembly-line Mahler cycle.  That's not to say that much of his Mahler isn't very good, because it certainly is.  But if people want 'chamber music Mahler' in which rhetoric is kept to a minimum, and textures are thinned out for maximum clarity, there are no end of options.  And Zinman is just one among a panoply of recording options, hardly any of which stand out from the crowd as being more distinguished from the others.