"What is everyone's favourite sections of Mahler 8?"
Among many, I like the big transition that happens right before the 'Penitent Women' passage. It sounds as though Mahler suddenly jumps up a key where Una Poenitentium joins in out of the ether (I'd have to go look at the score - Dover Edition).
To describe where I'm talking about, after the tenor's first long solo ("Hoschste Herrsherin der Welt"), there's the slow instrumental passage for soft unison violins, harps and harmonium (small chamber organ). This goes on for a while, then the adult choruses join in softly ("Dir der Unberuhrbaren"). Towards the end of that passage Una Poenitentium joins in and then takes over. I'm not positive, but I think her first words are, "Du schwebst zu Hoehen" (you soar to the heights). There's a bass drum crescendo there. If it's done right, and if Una P. enters strongly enough, it gives the impression of a single woman's voice appearing out of the ether.
Interestingly enough, back during the soft instrumental part, this where it says in the text (libretto?) that Mater Gloriosa should 'soar into view'. I've always wondered if those were Goethe's own words, or if Mahler added that in (I'm assuming the latter). In the Dudamel dvd, this is where we see the slinky Kiera Duffy slowly glide into offstage position in a procession-like manner. It's distracting but WHO CARES! (what a gown).
In the Chorus Mysticus, I also like where the adult choruses sing "zieht uns hinan" loudly, just before the organ plunks down its huge chord (Eb, I presume) and everybody sings "alles vergaengliche" in unison. Again, there's a big bass drum crescendo there. Both these parts are pretty well executed - thrillingly, really - on the J. Nott sacd/cd hybrid.
One last favorite moment: I love it in those few instances - the Colin Davis being one of them - where the unison chorus really hangs on to the very last syllable it sings in the entire symphony: "hiiiiiiiiii-naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan". I've heard one or two instances where the conductor didn't want to take the offstage brass part slowly (they come in with the "Veni Creator" theme), but they still wanted "nan" to last longer than what Mahler indicates in the score, sooooo, they actually have the chorus hang on to "nan" for a few extra bars to get the right effect. That's using the old grey matter between the ears.
