My recent Mahler acquisitions

[Freddy van Maurik]

Hi,

Today, I received some new Mahler-stuff:
- M9 - Saraste; after enthusiastic reports on this board, I felt I had to get this...
- dLvdE - Krips; previously unreleased recording with Wunderlich and Fischer-Dieskau
- M3 - Jansons; the concerts were extremely good, so I hear... let's see what this SACD brings
- M8 - Wit on Blu-ray Audio; for just 9 euro's, I'm rather curious whether this will sound even better on blu-ray
- M7 - Abbado on Blu-ray; the next Lucern-concert on blu-ray - I love these!

Cheers!
Freddy

[John Kim]

Freddy,

Sounds good!

Do you know if Jansons/RCO will eventually complete a cycle by recording all of Mahler symphonies?

So far we got M1, M2, M3, M5, and M6.

I'd love to hear Jansons' way with M7th and M9th with this orchestra.

John,

[barry guerrero]

Freddy,

Please get back to us on ALL of these. Thanks!

Barry

[Roffe]

Freddy,

Sounds good!

Do you know if Jansons/RCO will eventually complete a cycle by recording all of Mahler symphonies?

So far we got M1, M2, M3, M5, and M6.

I'd love to hear Jansons' way with M7th and M9th with this orchestra.

John,

And by a cycle we (or at least I) want to include an M10 (complete) and Das Lied.

Roffe

[Freddy van Maurik]

At some point, I did hear about a complete cycle by Jansons and his Amsterdam team. However, directly following the 2010-2011 season, the orchestra will play NO Mahler at all. I hope there will be more Mahler in 2013, but for now, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Freddy

[John Kim]

At some point, I did hear about a complete cycle by Jansons and his Amsterdam team. However, directly following the 2010-2011 season, the orchestra will play NO Mahler at all. I hope there will be more Mahler in 2013, but for now, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Freddy

I hope he will record M7th with RCO. I heard his live concert in early 2000s and loved every second of it.

John,

[Roffe]

At some point, I did hear about a complete cycle by Jansons and his Amsterdam team. However, directly following the 2010-2011 season, the orchestra will play NO Mahler at all. I hope there will be more Mahler in 2013, but for now, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Freddy

Sad to hear. In the Mengelberg years after Mahler's death the Concertgebouw Orchestra played an average of three or four Mahler symphonies every seson. Before that between 1903 and 1909 Mahler conducted six of his symphonies with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, as well as 'Das klagende Lied' and the 'Kindertotenlieder'.

Roffe

PS. Good Friday seemed to me to be a good day (no pun intended) to devote my listening to Mahler's Mass (also known as M8).

[barry guerrero]

I'm sure the Concertgebouw just wants to take a break from Mahler, that's all. After all, they've done a complete cycle under Chailly, and now another one under Jansons. Plus, I'm sure they've made countless other performances with numerous other conductors too. The music loses its 'specialness' if you do it every five seconds or so. The problem is, there is no other great music for them to do. They realyl ought to make a complete "Des Knaben Wunderhorn". However, with their terrific woodwinds, they should probably go on a Czech music binge for a while. Sibelius and Nielsen from the Concertgebouw could be interesting too. They're also excellent at French music, although Jansons has already recorded "La Mer" (not terribly well, actually).

Barry

[Roffe]

I'm sure you are right Barry. I don't seriously think they would abandon an over 100 year old Mahler tradition. The orchestra and the audience just need a wee break from Mahler, as we all may need from time to time.

Roffe

[Freddy van Maurik]

No, that's not what I meant. They won't abandon Mahler at all, of course! I just think it's not too sure that a complete cycle on RCO Live under Jansons' baton will be released over time. There will certainly be more Mahler by the Concertgebouworchestra after 2012.
And 'taking a break', yes - that's exactly what they're doing, after this complete cycle over 2 seasons. I hope this cycle will be issued on dvd/blu-ray. The first 5 (the first season) was broadcast in July of last year and the next 6 (second season, including dLvdE) will be broadcast in July of this year. I only attended the M4 with Fischer, which was near perfect, but I also really enjoyed the tv-broadcasts of the other 4 symphonies, so far.

It would be nice to get them in superiour quality (image and sound) on blu-ray. These would be included:

M1 - Harding
M2 - Merbeth, Fink - Jansons (already on DVD, included with the RCO Live SACD)
M3 - Fink - Jansons
M4 - Persson - Fischer
M5 - Gatti
M6 - Maazel (ouch... I hear this wasn't too good... I never was a Maazel fan)
M7 - Boulez
M8 - Jansons (I've heard people say that this was the best M8 they ever attended - you might say 'how many M8 can you attend in a lifetime', but these people have heard M8 by Haitink in 1988,1995 (Rotterdam, excellent performance!), Chailly in 1995, 1998 and a few more)
M9 - Haitink
dLvdE - Larsson, Dean Smith - Luisi
M10 - Inbal (Cooke)

Well, we'll see...
Freddy

[bluesbreaker]

 Love the Wit M8. This one will be among the classics.
Looking forward to your review.

[barry guerrero]

Freddy, you haven't "gotten" back to us. Have you heard the Wit M8 on Blu-Ray yet?  What are your feelings regarding Jansons/RCOA M3 vs. Chailly/RCOA? Inquiring Mahler nuts want to know.

[Michael]

And what about the Saraste M9?  I know his Sixth was highly-praised on the board (I was the first, I think), but his M9, at least the one on iTunes, is a washout.

[Freddy van Maurik]

Hey, hey, don't rush it...  I have a 16-week old daughter (I reckon I hadn't mentioned that to you guys yet) and I've been terribly busy lately. I have given the Wit M8 on Blu-Ray a quick listen and I think the sound has improved, but not too much. Considering the price, though, anyone with a blu-ray player ought to give this a go.

The M3 by Jansons is, IMHO, nearly as good as the Chailly one, and the RCO Live SACD sound is great - but so was the Decca SACD printing of the Chailly. On first hearing, it immediately ranks among my top choices, but I've only heard it once, and I was working on something, so I wasn't listening to carefully...

The Saraste M9 has quite a few flaws, indeed, but there is much to enjoy, too. Alas, I have have so many great M9's already, that this one will end up somewhere at the end of the list. No real urgent need to get this, though, for any of you.

And the Abbado M7 is an excellent addition to this cycle. I absolutely adore Abbado and his way with Mahler, so I'm not entirely unbiased, but I'd urge all of you to add these performances to your collection.

Not a very detailed review, I acknowledge, I'll try to get back after I've heard these a few times with a more detailed description.

Cheers!
Freddy

[barry guerrero]

Sorry if we rushed you but those comments are plenty helpful. Congratulations on the daughter!