The BEST Mahler 7?

[AZContrabassoon]

Recently, the new Maazel recording of symphonies 7, 8 & 9 with the Philharmonia was released on Signum. Classics Today and Music Web were merciless in trashing the 7th - slow, dull, boring. A waste of time and money.

Now today the March/April copy of American Record Review shows up and there on page 118: "7 is probably the best available now". Better than Bernstein? Abaddo? Kondrashin? Kubelik? The reviewer then goes on to praise the 9th as one of the best ever alongside Giulini and Karajan. The 8th is good - but he thinks the Maazel/Vienna better.

Anyway, has anyone heard this 7th? He does compare it favorably to Klemperer, which I find utterly dreadful.

[barry guerrero]

Maazel's late Mahler is extremely slow - a style that may be more appropriate for Bruckner than Mahler. He is, however, a master of powerful climaxes. If that works for you, then maybe give it a try. Personally, I don't like M7 to be slow in the second half. Movements 1 and 2?   .    .    .   yeah, OK - as long as they're done well, i.e. sans flabby rhythms. Another strike for me is that I'm not a fan of the modern day Philharmonia in Mahler, or much of anything else for that matter.

Of the major London orchestras, when it comes to Mahler, I like the LSO in a sort of lean 'racing car' kind of way, while the LPO probably still retains something of a heavier sound that's more appropriate for Austro/German music. I'm still not a fan of the metallic 'whang-y' sounding Paiste tam-tams used ubiquitously in the UK (Paiste uses stainless steel in the alloy).

[James Meckley]

Anyway, has anyone heard this 7th? He does compare it favorably to Klemperer, which I find utterly dreadful.

This Mahler 7 on Signum Classics from 2011 is quite similar interpretively to Maazel's NYPO recording from four years earlier (just one minute shorter overall) but it's more naturally recorded—the engineers have to get in fairly close at David Geffen Hall to minimize it's sonic signature. As Barry anticipated, it's on the slow side, though it comes nowhere near the creaky perversity of Klemperer's version on EMI. I prefer M7 with more energy and forward thrust, especially in the Finale.

"Probably the best available now"? I hardly think so. You can add Gramophone to your list of publications that have panned it. Fanfare so far has been silent on the matter.

James

[barry guerrero]

I have 'spot checked' the Maazel/Signum recordings on Spotify (no pun intended). These are simply not for me. My thought is that if one wants a slower and very 'powerful' type of M7 recording, it would be very difficult to better the last 'live' one that Tennstedt made for EMI. It came in a 3 cd box set of both M6 and M7. I felt that Tennstedt's approach better suited the 6th symphony, but both were still very good in that late Tennstedt style. Now Warner Classics (formerly EMI) has issued a box set with both the EMI studio and live recordings. This appears to be a pretty good deal.

http://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Complete-Symphonies-Gustav/dp/B004OGDW4M/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1456876553&sr=1-1&keywords=mahler+box+tennstedt


http://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symphonies-6-7-Gustav/dp/B000005GLL/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1456876511&sr=1-1&keywords=mahler+6+and+7+tennstedt

[barry guerrero]

Another very good M7 along the same lines is the Leif Segerstam/Danish R.S.O. one on Chandos. A bit slow; very powerful, and with careful attention to Mahler's deliberate sound effects.

According to Wikipedia, Segerstam has composed 291 symphonies!!!

[waderice]

According to Wikipedia, Segerstam has composed 291 symphonies!!!

Each one must last five minutes or less! 

Wade

[AZContrabassoon]

I recall a review of a disk which contained several of his symphonies. The reviewer concluded saying something like "For the orchestra 5 stars, for the composer - zero!" He's a fine conductor, though. His Sibelius is brilliant. Have you seen the video of him doing Sheherazade, though? What he does in the finale is astonishing.

[waderice]

Have you seen the video of him doing Sheherazade, though? What he does in the finale is astonishing.

Link?

Thanks, Wade

[AZContrabassoon]

Here it is:

http://slippedisc.com/2015/12/maestro-lets-rip-in-mid-concert/

[justininsf]

Here it is:

http://slippedisc.com/2015/12/maestro-lets-rip-in-mid-concert/

That was one of the best videos i've seen in a long time!

[waderice]

Here it is:

http://slippedisc.com/2015/12/maestro-lets-rip-in-mid-concert/

When I saw "maestro lets rip in mid-concert", I didn't expect him, and some of the other orchestra players to holler out during the music playing.  I had in mind, something else "let rip" during one of the quiet passages!   

Wade

[barry guerrero]

He obviously feels that adding a 'soundtrack' of crowd noise enhances the narrative to the story - not really an effort to play faster. In fact, this is not a particularly fast tempo for the finale. Good tam-tam smash at 47:13 (which is often times underplayed or inaudible).

Hey, have you folks seen the prices for Segerstam's Mahler at Amazon!?!!    .   .   .  and the complete box set isn't even listed!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=mahler+segerstam&rh=n%3A5174%2Ck%3Amahler+segerstam


Here's the complete cycle for a mere $485

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1013115/a/mahler%3A+symphonies+no+1+-+10+%2F+leif+segerstam,+et+al.htm

[ChrisH]

You can download the entire cycle here:
http://www.theclassicalshop.net/Details.aspx?CatalogueNumber=CHAN%209572M

[AZContrabassoon]

Ouch! Now I really regret not having bought them all 20 years ago. I did get 3, 7 & 9 - they're fine. Even $100 or so for the download is really steep considering the great sets available for $50 or less. I imagine someday this entire set will be brought out as a bargain box.

[David Boxwell]

The one, the only Kirill Kondrashin (at the Concertgebouw, Nov 29 1979)!