Gergiev/LSO/LSO M9th SACD

[John Kim]

I've been listening to Gergiev/LSO/LSO Mahler Ninth Symphony SACD lately. Fast, fervent, and (as usual with this conductor) volatile, Gergive still gives a very cogent reading that can proudly stand with the best recordings of this masterwork. The 1st movt. is gusty and meaty with powerful brass but it also flows quite well. The RB starts at somewhat a low energy level but it really picks up in the coda with the London woodwinds screaming and running wild in a breakneck tempo. The finale also starts rather somberly but culminates in a  powerful climax. What's really nice is, Gergiev slows down in the coda making up to Mahler instruction for the tempo - very, very slow. Aided by the excellent London strings, the last page fades away in a truly hushed, timeless mode as it should. The London players gives everything the conductor asks for, reminding me that they are one of the THREE greatest Mahler orchestras in the world. The sound is spacious (unlike most of recording jobs done at this venue), but my verdict is based on the standard CD layer. While it doesn't quite measure up to the very best versions, e.g., Bernstein, Ozawa, Levine, Karajan, and Solti, Gergiev offers a very solid and moving account, providing a nice conclusion to what has been an interesting Mahler cycle.

Highly recommended.

[Russell]

Thanks, John.  I saw this at my local CD store the other day and wanted to wait for your opinion before trying it.  Looks like I'll have to give it a go!

Russell

[Russ Smiley]

I've been listening to Gergiev/LSO/LSO Mahler Ninth Symphony SACD lately. ...The London players gives everything the conductor asks for, reminding me that they are one of the THREE greatest Mahler orchestras in the world... Highly recommended.

Okay, I'll bite.  What are the three greatest Mahler orchestras in the world?

[John Kim]

I've been listening to Gergiev/LSO/LSO Mahler Ninth Symphony SACD lately. ...The London players gives everything the conductor asks for, reminding me that they are one of the THREE greatest Mahler orchestras in the world... Highly recommended.

Okay, I'll bite.  What are the three greatest Mahler orchestras in the world?

LSO, RCO, CPO

IMO

[Roffe]

It took me a bit of research to find out that the CPO probably is the Czech Philharmonic. A somewhat surprising choice, but I'm not questioning your choice. I don't think I've heard them in any Mahler, but if you say they are good, I'll take your word for it and look out for recordings with them.

Roffe

[James Meckley]

It took me a bit of research to find out that the CPO probably is the Czech Philharmonic.

In my own data base, I use "CzPO" to avoid any possible confusion. They've always had a distinctive sound, one which I tend to associate with that of orchestras in Mahler's own time and native region.

James

[barry guerrero]

While I'm not always crazy about Neumann's 'interpretations' (tempi and tempo relationships), they're a good place to begin to Czech out the Czech style of Mahler. They're rather like the Concertgebouw and Dresden Staatskapelle (a favorite of mine), meaning that their excellent woodwinds don't get drowned out by a wall of blaring brass, and they permit their percussion to reinforce the major climaxes. In other words, all four sections of the orchestra are treated as equal partners. However, if you listen to the Neumanns, just know that their horns have changed significantly since that time.

Their horns now use vibrato far more discreetly than they used to, and they often times use the schmidt triple horns now - the same horn that Phil Meyers in the N.Y. Phil. has switched to, and the type of horn that Caballero uses in the Pittsburgh Symphony (huge sound!). So, if you want to hear the CPO horn section in their more current day guise, get some of the Macal Mahler recordings on Exton (quite expensive though).

[akiralx]

So, if you want to hear the CPO horn section in their more current day guise, get some of the Macal Mahler recordings on Exton (quite expensive though).

Surely you misspelled the conductor's name, should be Kobayashi...

[waderice]

I'm of the opinion that there can be more than three great Mahler orchestras in the world.  To my ears, mind, and eyes, the best orchestras are those who respond the best to the "driver" driving them - the conductor.  In the whirlwind of numerous worldwide concerts, recordings, etc., many of what we consider to be the world's great Mahler orchestras have had the good fortune to be conducted by what many of us consider to be the best conductors, variable though they may/have been.  And yes, it's definitely a plus that these organizations have the best possible players in their employ.  What if Mahler, Toscanini, Reiner, Walter, Beecham, and many others from the Golden Age had the opportunity to conduct a lesser orchestra in one of many lesser cities in which they appeared while at the height of their powers as opposed to earlier in their careers?  Too bad there are few or no recordings in most instances to document this point.  And to "put the shoe on the other foot", what about today's conductors who do not fit the "best" mode and have had the opportunity to conduct the best orchestras because they're considered superstars through being podium showmen rather than thoroughly prepared, experienced and consummate musicians (I won't name names)?  In the latter instance, it will be the orchestra who plays on its own in spite of that conductor's inability to conduct an ideal performance.

There have been posts at another thread elsewhere in this forum addressing how good the Pittsburgh Symphony is.  Prior to Reiner being music director of the Chicago Symphony and the Metropolitan Opera, he led the Pittsburgh orchestra for 11 years from 1938-49.  And though most of the recordings he made with that orchestra have at least made it onto now hard-to-get CDs, the performance quality in some the recordings he made with that band approach ones of the same repertory he made later in Chicago.  IMHO, his Ein Heldenleben with Pittsburgh is for all intents and purposes, practically as good as the one he did later in Chicago.  Though he recorded a Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen in Pittsburgh (his only Mahler recording there), unfortunately, there is no recording of it that he later made in Chicago, although we do have M4 and DLvdE.

After all, it was Mahler who said that "There are no bad orchestras - only bad conductors".

Wade

[barry guerrero]

"There are no bad orchestras - only bad conductors"

Generally a true statement. But these days, the orchestras are so great, and the repertoire so 'standardized', that the orchestras often times 'carry' the conductor (particularly true of 'green' newbies). Thus, it's hard to know who's leading who.

[Alexandros]

I've been listening to Gergiev/LSO/LSO Mahler Ninth Symphony SACD lately. ...The London players gives everything the conductor asks for, reminding me that they are one of the THREE greatest Mahler orchestras in the world... Highly recommended.

Okay, I'll bite.  What are the three greatest Mahler orchestras in the world?

LSO, RCO, CPO

IMO

The CzPO will be performing in Athens in November under Inbal no less than M1 and M7 plus song cycles. I saw them also under Ashkenazy doing M7 some years ago (at the anniversary of M7's premire in Prague) and they were very good.

[barry guerrero]

"Surely you misspelled the conductor's name, should be Kobayashi..."

Yes, certainly - the Kobayashi ones will do just fine. I like him on M1, M3 and M5.

[John Kim]

I haven't heard Kobayashi's M1st, but LOVE his M3rd, M5th and M7th.

(This M3rd has never been matched.)

John,

[John Kim]

Gergiev's M9th was recorded at a low level, so you need to turn up the volume way up to experience the full impact. Barbican Church's dry acoustics are decidedly a minus here eschewing many details, but you can somewhat compensate for it by cranking up the sound.

Because of the low recording level, the performance may sound less subtle and sophisticated than it really is, but again increasing the volume can help overcome such a perception.

John,

[akiralx]

I haven't heard Kobayashi's M1st, but LOVE his M3rd, M5th and M7th.

(This M3rd has never been matched.)

John,

Agreed!