greatly enjoying Mark Elder/Halle Orch. M9

[barry guerrero]

A good friend sends me 'burnt' copies of recent things. Among his latest package was the Mark Elder/Halle Orch. M9, and I'm enjoying it very much. It's just a tad on the 'light' side, and I would describe this superbly paced performance as being more an 'organic realization' than an 'interpretation'. The quiet transitional passages of the first movement expose great detail and are very precisely played. Those passages really cement the first movement together, even if the big climaxes aren't as overwhelming as they are on Karajan, Giulini, Bernsten/IPO, etc. The Rondo-Burlesque goes at a moderate pace, but you could set a stop watch to it. Elder doesn't lose pace anywhere along the way and the playing is terrific. Really, I like the pacing of the entire performance. While I wouldn't describe this as being an 'essential' release, it's still a really nice and musical representation of one of Mahler's most mature works. Timings are roughly 28:00; 16:00; 13:00; 25:10

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/mahler-symphony-no-9/hnum/6899338

[Leo K]

I'm impressed with Elder's Elgar so I'm interested in hearing this, thanks for the heads-up Barry!

[John Kim]

I like this M9 too on the same ground, but find the playing less than satisfactory.

[barry guerrero]

I think the playing is just fine, and I like how the movements are proportioned. No offense: I tried the Chung M9, and it's just too 'interpreted' for my taste. The contrast of fast and slow parts in the Rondo-Burlesque are simply too much, and there's no room to make the accellerandos at the end of the R-B.

[barry guerrero]

It's not as long as any of Karajan's, and certainly far shorter than Bernstein's later ones. But if you're speaking subjectively, OK.