My current M9 favorites

[Leo K]

As of Jan 2015, these recordings have been my favored M9...there can never be an absolute, but here is the current crop:

[barry guerrero]

That's quite a variety. You might like to know that the Abbado/VPO M9 has been reissued on to a single disc at budget price (less than $10). I think it might have been remastered in the process.

[Leo K]

I've been looking at the reissue, I do plan on getting it at some point, hopefully it is remastered.

[John Kim]

My humble list:

1. Ozawa/BSO/NHK Blu-ray & DVD (Ozawa's last concert as the music director of BSO)
2. Solti/LSO/Decca (the recent Japanese remastering has astonishing details.)
3. Chailly/GLO Blu-ray & DVD
4. Chung/SPO/DG (Seoul Philharmonic Orch. live from August, 2013)
5. Ashkenazy/SSO/SSO (Sydney Symphony Orch. jaw-dropping sonics!)

[Leo K]

My humble list:

1. Ozawa/BSO/NHK Blu-ray & DVD (Ozawa's last concert as the music director of BSO)
2. Solti/LSO/Decca (the recent Japanese remastering has astonishing details.)
3. Chailly/GLO Blu-ray & DVD
4. Chung/SPO/DG (Seoul Philharmonic Orch. live from August, 2013)
5. Ashkenazy/SSO/SSO (Sydney Symphony Orch. jaw-dropping sonics!)

Thanks John, there are a few I haven't heard on your list; the Chung and the Ashkenazi - thanks for the heads up!

--Todd

[AZContrabassoon]

My current favorite 9th. The chamber version by Klaus Simon, with Joolz Gale conducting the ensemble mini.


I know, a sacrilege to Mahler lovers, but on many levels this chamber version works! And the young conductor has an understanding of the score that puts many a more experienced conductor to shame.

[techniquest]

Personally, I've always liked the Klemperer recording with the New Philharmonia.

[barry guerrero]

I think the 'live' Vienna Phil. one with Klemeper is even better. And I feel that it's vastly better than the (in)famous '38 Bruno Walter one.

[mattermind]

Oooooooooooh, man.  I'll take Lenny and Berlin every day of the week.  He absolutely crushed that thing, and with Karajan's house band to boot.  Second to none, in my opinion.

However, his version with the Concertgebouw takes my breath away as well.  It's elongated to an inhuman degree of sacred tension...I can hear the orchestra and audience strung out like a wire.  It can be torturous at some points, but so direct and inward, almost to the point it bursts your heart - a 9th that takes just about every demarcated limit to the wall.  Not for everyone.  And not an everyday sort of recording.  I just thank god it exists.

I'm a big fan of the the 9th in its hot incarnations if you couldn't tell.  The Walter/Klemperers don't do it for me like they used to. 

[barry guerrero]

"I'll take Lenny and Berlin every day of the week"

It is quite good in its own way. For me, I just can't enjoy the last movement with the fact that the trombones are completely missing at THE most climactic moment in the entire movement (and they belt out the main theme there, too). Also, the beginning of the Rondo-Burlesque gets off to a bit of a rough start. Have you heard the live Bernstein one with the Israel Phil. from 1985 on Helicon?

http://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symphony-Israel-Philharmonic-Orchestra/dp/B007FHNSF0/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1424975594&sr=1-1&keywords=mahler+9+helicon

To me, it has the best aspects of his late DG M9s, but with better sound quality. The timings are I - 29:27, II - 16:43, III - 12:07, IV - 30:15 (I think some of that might be silence & applause). Helicon issues are expensive, but you may be able to listen to it for free on Spotify.

Also, there's a 'pirate' of Bernstein/BSO from Tangelwood that's been circulating for quite awhile. I think it's quite a bit better than either of the two DG recordings, and maybe slightly better played than the Israel one (but not better recorded - the sound is excellent on the Helicon issue). There are also a 'pirate' Abbado/BPO and Karajan/BPO M9's that I feel are slightly better than any of their commercial DG releases as well. Just one person's opinion, but these pirates ARE worth hearing.

[hrandall]

Has anyone heard and have any impressions of the new M9 / Mark Elder / Hallé release? It doesn't seem to be released on CD yet in the U.S., but you can download it in iTunes or hear it in Spotify. Seems to be available on Amazon U.K. (though back-ordered perhaps).

[akiralx]

Has anyone heard and have any impressions of the new M9 / Mark Elder / Hallé release?

Will check it out - I heard them do an amazing M3 in concert a few years ago. 

I am a tad surprised that Elder's name is never mentioned whenever major orchestras are looking for new MDs.  Maybe his profile is too low and he's happy in the UK, though he does conduct quite a lot in Europe and the US...

[Leo K]

I think the 'live' Vienna Phil. one with Klemeper is even better. And I feel that it's vastly better than the (in)famous '38 Bruno Walter one.

I've been closely listening to all three of Klemp's M9's (New Phil., VPO, and the Jerusalem). His interpretation is pretty much the same for all three performances, but each has it's own fascinating sound, details, and atmosphere. My estimation of his M9 has changed from nonchalance to pure greatness. Years ago I didn't understand his pacing despite my preference for slower performances of Mahler's 9. I just needed to listen to his EMI account closely, studying it again and again. His EMI Das Lied von der Erde had inspired me to take another look at his Mahler 9 and wow, I'm glad I did.

[hprill]

I had a first listen to Chailly's new M9 with the Gewandhausorchester the other day, and while I haven't totally made up my mind about it yet, he does a number of things that I definitely like. Overall, he seems to eliminate much of the pathos and sentimentality that some conductors inject into the music. I have to give it a few more listens, but I'd be interested in what you people think if you've already heard it.

[ChrisH]

I really liked this blu-ray and enjoyed what Chailly has done with it. The first time I heard the Mahler 9 it was a recording with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic. This is a recording that anyone rarely speaks of, I picked up because I wanted a Mahler 9 with Phil Smith playing trumpet and Joe Alessi playing trombone. I read the liner notes and they talked of death and sadness. How emotional the work is and that it is Mahlers farewell. So I listened to it for the first time and didn't really get that opinion of the work. I took away an almost uplifting feeling, not sadness. Mahler looking back and being happy and proud that he lived the life he did, and accomplished what he had in such a short time.

Chailly's reading gives me that same feeling.