A List of Mahler's Complete Cycles (updated on March 16, 2017)

[GL]

As far as I know today, 16 March 2017, this is the list of the conductors that recorded a complete cycle of Mahler's Symphonies:

Abbado (DG)

Abravanel (Vanguard)

Ashkenazi (label of the Sydney Orchestra)

Bernstein (1 for Sony, 1 for DG, 1, on DVD, for DG)

Bertini (EMI)

Boulez (DG)

Chailly (Decca)

Eschenbach (HD Videos available for free here: http://www.christoph-eschenbach.com/mahler/#movnav)

A. Fischer (Avi-Music; in progress, it will be completed in 2020)

Gergiev (LSO live)

Gielen (Haenssler Classics)

Haitink (Philips; despite all his Mahler recordings, since he did not make multiple recordings of M8, he has just released 1 official complete cycle only)

Inbal (1 for Denon; 1 for Exton)

Jansons (for different labels, but he recorded all the completed Symphonies, exception made for M10)

Kubelik (DG)

P. Jarvi (on DVD/Blu-ray for C Major)

Maazel (1 for Sony; 1 for Signum; 1, with the NYP, available for download; maybe one day the cycle with the BRSO will became officially available too)

Neumann (Supraphon)

Nott (Tudor)

Ozawa (Philips)

Pesek (label of the Czech National Orchestra)

Rattle (EMI)

Rinkevicius (label of the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra)

Segerstam (Chandos)

Sinopoli (DG)

Solti (Decca)

Stenz (Oehms Classics)

Svetlanov (currently Warner)

Tabakov (Capriccio)

Tennstedt (EMI)

Tilson Thomas (label of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra)

Wakasugi (Fontec)

de Waart (RCA)

Zinman (RCA)

[ChrisH]

It's too bad that we won't be getting a complete Chailly/Leipzig cycle on Blu-Ray. Other than the 7th, I felt they were all highly competitive interpretations. Accentus was going to release the 1st, but I think that all fell apart when Chailly left.

Anyway great list. Is there any conductor you wished had recorded a cycle that did not? I always wanted a Dutoit/Montreal cycle.

[waderice]

Anyway great list. Is there any conductor you wished had recorded a cycle that did not? I always wanted a Dutoit/Montreal cycle.

Two conductors that were one symphony short of a complete cycle were Horenstein (M2) and Scherchen (M4).  Three conductors that I would have liked to have seen complete cycles from were Rosbaud, Leinsdorf and Dorati.

Wade

[GL]

It's too bad that we won't be getting a complete Chailly/Leipzig cycle on Blu-Ray. Other than the 7th, I felt they were all highly competitive interpretations. Accentus was going to release the 1st, but I think that all fell apart when Chailly left.

Anyway great list. Is there any conductor you wished had recorded a cycle that did not? I always wanted a Dutoit/Montreal cycle.

Among late conductors, I woud have been interested in listening to cycles by:

Webern (yep, that Webern), Zemlinsky, Mengelberg (with the Concertgebouw O), Van Beinum (with the Concertgebouw O), Rosbaud, Schuricht (when he was young), Klemperer (anyway, he did not care for M3 and M5, so he would not have recorded them even if he had had the possibility), Talich (with the Czech Philharmonic), Ancerl (with the Czech Philharmonic), Munch (with Boston SO), Ormandy (with Philadelphia O), Reiner (with Chicago SO), Karajan (with Berlin or Vienna O), K. Sanderling, Mackerras (with the Czech Philharmonic).

During the 50s, Bruno Walter was offered to record a complete cycle with the Wiener Symphoniker, but he declined.

Among living conductors, I would be interested in listening to cycles by:

Salonen (with the Los Angeles O), Nelsons (with the Boston SO), Nezet-Seguin (with the Philadelphia O), V. Petrenko, I. Fischer, Honeck (with the Pittsburgh SO), Previn, Kuchar (with a blasoned orchestra), Marc Albrecht, Shani, at least a woman among Falletta, Alsop and Gražinytė-Tyla.

Among the orchestras, I'd like a complete cycle by the Staatskapelle Dresden.

[GL]

Anyway great list. Is there any conductor you wished had recorded a cycle that did not? I always wanted a Dutoit/Montreal cycle.

Two conductors that were one symphony short of a complete cycle were Horenstein (M2) and Scherchen (M4).  Three conductors that I would have liked to have seen complete cycles from were Rosbaud, Leinsdorf and Dorati.

Wade

Close but not cigar cycles (as far as I remember):

Barbirolli (it lacks M8)

Horenstein (it lacks M2)

N. Jarvi (it lacks M9)

Kobayashi (it lacks M8)

Kondrashin (it lacks M2 & M8)

Kubelik Live/Audite (alas, it lacks M4)

Levine (it lacks M8, but a recording exists in the archives of Chicago and, according to Jed Distler, is good stuff)

Scherchen (it lacks M4 and M6 is disfigured by horrid cuts)

[waderice]

GL, there is an aircheck recording of M8 I have by Levine done in NY, though it is marred with a short cut partway through Part II of the symphony when the recordist had to turn his cassette tape over to enable completion of his recording of the aircheck.

Wade

[James Meckley]

GL, there is an aircheck recording of M8 I have by Levine done in NY, though it is marred with a short cut partway through Part II...

The Levine/NYPO M8 aircheck you mention is likely from a performance given during the 1976 Carnegie Hall Mahler Festival on October 9 of that year. There's a version available without the gap you describe, though the balances and overall sound quality leave something to be desired—especially in the louder spots—and it's effectiveness is further marred by a powerful yet unconvincing artificial organ.

There are also two Levine/Boston Symphony M8 airchecks in circulation, one done October 24, 2004 in Symphony Hall, and another done July 8, 2005 at Tanglewood. The sound on both of these recordings is quite acceptable.

James

[AZContrabassoon]

It's not too late folks, Levine is still alive - although I don't know what shape he's in. If only somehow he could get a real 8th and DLVDE.

[barryguerrero]

There was a pirate floating around of the M8 that he did at the start of his short tenure with the BSO. It sounds really good, too. The BSO ought to issue it on their own label, but I guess there's always a big hassle in getting permission from the singers, etc.

He also recorded a - to my ears - mediocre "DLvdE" in Berlin, with Siegried Jerusalem (eeeeeeh) and Jessye Norman. That sounds promising, but Norman sounded much better on her earlier recording with Colin Davis. Anyway, Levine's "DLvdE" was on DG - a total non-starter in my book.

[GL]

GL, there is an aircheck recording of M8 I have by Levine done in NY, though it is marred with a short cut partway through Part II of the symphony when the recordist had to turn his cassette tape over to enable completion of his recording of the aircheck.

Wade

As I have written somewhere else in this forum, the NYP M8/Levine was indeed broadcast on October, 9, 1976:

Place: Carnegie Hall
Carol Neblett, soprano
Teresa Zylis-Gara, soprano
Kathleen Battle, soprano
Lili Chookasian, contralto
Gwendolyn Killebrew, mezzo-soprano
Kenneth Riegel tenor
Michael Devlin, baritone
Donald McIntyre, baritone
Westminster Choir
Boys' Choir from the Little Chrch around the Corner
Trinity School Boys' ChoirùThe Brooklyn Boys' Chorus
New York Philharmonic
James Levine

(source: Booklet "Mahler in New York", p. 190. This booklet is part of the 12 CDs New Philharmonic set "The Mahler boradcast 1948-1982)

I read about the Chicago SO M8/Levine I mentioned above at the end of a review of Jed Distler:

"So, while this won’t do as a primary Mahler Second recording (for that you should pick from any of the reference recordings above), it’s fine enough for Levine fans to purchase and enjoy as they wait for some label to release his Mahler Eighth (the fabulous live performance with the Chicago Symphony would be ideal) to complete their collections."  (http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-16169/)

Distler speaks about it as if an official recording (made for a broadcast, I suppose) actually exists.

I suspect that the main problem in releasing a live M8 with Levine is related to get permissions from the legion of singers required, but I still find rather incredible that nobody is thinking about/working for releasing at least one of existing live recordings of Levine's M8.

[barryguerrero]

I'm afraid I have to part ways with DH on this topic. I don't think Levine's Helicon label M2 is worth 8 out of 10 stars. I think the live Salzburg Festival one on Orfeo is better.

Was there a Levine/CSO M8 from Orchestra Hall? I remember hearing a radio broadcast of an M8 that he did at Rivinia, and it just didn't sound very good (as most outdoor M8's seldom ever do). I remember there being almost no organ and the balances were - of course - all messed up.

I frankly think this is a total non-issue. Levine will never get his health back to a point where he can perform regularly. I really feel that his RCA Mahler is, on the whole, rather overrated. The CSO M3 and M4 are quite good. The CSO M7 isn't bad either, although the dynamic range is a bit exaggerated, due to it having been recorded on the very 'open' sounding Soundstream deck. The Philly items are very well played, but not terribly well recorded. Worse yet, Levine's M10 is a total loser (save the first movement). I feel this cycle is a bit dated now.

[GL]

I think that Jed Distler is referring to this performance:

Gustav Mahler / Symphony no. 8. Part 1, Hymnus: Veni, Creator spiritus

Carol Neblett, Judith Blegen, Jann Jaffe, sopranos ; Isola Jones, Birgit Finnilae [i.e. Finnilä], contraltos ; Kenneth Riegel, tenor ; Ryan Edwards, baritone ; John Cheek, bass ; Glen Ellyn Children's Chorus ; Chicago Symphony Chorus; James Levine (22:36).

(check disc 5 of the collection "Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the first 100 years": https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/728542)

I do not know where it was recorded. Ravinia is not mentioned in the following list (which I do not know if it is accurate):

"Recorded from live performances, radio and television broadcasts, May 1, 1916, to June 30, 1989, in New York, N.Y., Chicago, Ill., Hamilton, Ontario and Evanston, Ill."

Anyway, if according to Distler's ears it is a fabulous performance, I am inclined to believe him.

About the Levine cycle, I concur with the reviews one can read on arkivmusic:

"As a Mahler interpreter, his performances are exciting, fabulously played, razor-sharp rhythmically, and sensitive to the myriad details of Mahler's scoring. He has terrific vocal soloists--Judith Blegen in the Fourth and Marilyn Horne in the Third--but seems not to like cowbells very much in the Sixth and Seventh. Perhaps the two standout performances are the Fifth and Ninth, as much for the playing of the Philadelphia Orchestra as for Levine's intense interpretations."

(for the full reviews: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=565592)

And so I think Levine's Mahler belongs to every serious collection.

[barryguerrero]

"I think Levine's Mahler belongs to every serious collection"

I would say more the underrated Inbal and Bertini cycles from the 1980's, but that - of course - is merely an opinion.

Thanks for informing me on the M8/I that Distler is referring to.

[GL]

In my opinion, a serious collection of complete cycles (box-sets) and Lieder should contain (in alphabetical order):

"MANDATORY" (= that must be known, the essentials):

SYMPHONIES:

Bertini (EMI)

Bernstein 1 (Sony, the last Japanese remastering) and Bernstein 2 (DG)

or

Bernstein 1 (Sony, the last Japanese remastering) and M1, M5, M6 of Bernstein 2 (DG)

Chailly (Decca)

Gielen (Haenssler Classics)

Levine's (Sony), Kubelik live (Audite) and Klemperer's are not complete, but they should stay in the above mentioned company. Among other cycles not yet complete, Ivan Fischer's and Manfred Honeck's should be too, even if they will not be completed.

M10 (Cooke):

Chailly (Decca)

Gielen (Haenssler Classics)

Rattle 1 (EMI)

Sanderling (Berlin Classics)

LIEDER:

Gesellen-Lieder, Kindertotenlieder, Rueckert-Lieder & Lieder von der Jugendzeit:

Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano) (EMI & Hyperion)

Kindertotenlieder & Rueckert-Lieder:

Christa Ludwig (EMI or DG)

Wunderhornlieder:

Bernstein 1 (Sony)

Chailly (Decca)

Stenz (Ohems)

Das Lied von der Erde (with contralto):

Klemperer (EMI)

Kubelik (Audite)

Haitink (Philips)

(yes, I like Janet Baker very much)

Das Lied von der Erde (with bariton):

Kletzki (EMI)

Das Klagende Lied (definitive version):

Haitink (Philips)

Das Klagende Lied (Waldmaerchen + definitive version):

Chailly (decca)

Tilson-Thomas (label of the SFSO)

Das Klagende Lied (1880 version):

Akiyama (Exton)

Nagano (Warner, not well recorded as the Akiyama's)

"OPTIONAL" (= that are worth to be known, and could expand the horizons of a collection):

SYMPHONIES:

Inbal 1 (Denon; not as Inbal 1, which it was my first complete cycle and which I own with every disc signed by the maestro himself, but I enjoyed Inbal 2 too)

Neumann (Supraphon)

Ozawa (Philips)

Segerstam (Chandos - discontinued)

Tennstedt (EMI)

Tilson-Thomas (label of the SFSO) and Zinman (RCA) could be part of the list of the "optionals". Among not complete cycles, Kondrashin (Melodya) is rather impressive.

Das Lied von der Erde:

Nezet-Seguin (London Philharmonic Orchestra label)

Eiji Oue (Reference Recordings)

M10 (Cooke)

Dausgaard (Seattle Symphony Media)

Rattle 2 (EMI)

Das Klagende Lied (Waldmaerchen + definitive version):

Rattle (EMI)

Sinopoli (DG)

LIEDER:

Wunderhornlieder, Gesellen-Lieder, Kindertotenlieder, Rueckert-Lieder:

Boulez (DG)

Rueckert-Lieder:

Sasha Cooke (mezzo-soprano) (Yarlung Records)

NOTE: I don't know the Wakasugi cycle. I know only the M6 of the Rinkevicius. The Pesek cycle I will know soon.

[barryguerrero]

OK, fair enough