BBC Radio 3 "Building a Library" Mahler 7

[Prospero]

Johnson made mention of Klemperer and the 7th with a very brief passage, and it was dismissed quickly. Probably mentioned because of Klemperer's reputation in other areas, especially in Britain. Much praise of Bernstein 1965, also liked Tennstedt. However, he did not distinguish between Tennstedt studio and live. He ended up liking the Abbado Berlin live, as mentioned by others.

The sound of the Klemperer 2nd on early EMI LPs is astounding. You can hear the orchestra in broad and deep spatiality and the players' individual playing and expression in the wind section with great nuance and specificity. A superb Kingsway hall acoustic.

The DLvdE is very fine  also on early EMI LP pressings. The Wunderlich songs were recorded in Kingsway Hall and the Baker ones later in Abbey Road Studio 3 as shown in the photos in the brochure of the first LP issue. The sound is fairly well matched. And you can hear Baker singing from the middle of the orchestra in her songs.
 
I enjoy the quirkiness of the 7th a great deal. The biggest challenge is, of course, the finale. Johnson liked the ambiguity of bravado and doubt in Abbado's performance. I actually heard a live Abbado 7th with the LSO in London in 1982.

[barryguerrero]

Regardless of the "Meistersinger" connection with the finale, I don't believe Mahler viewed his 7th as another 'darkness to more darkness' symphony (like the 6th). I think he clearly lightens his mood towards the end of the scherzo, and that he was sincere in saying that the finale was, "a ray of sunlight in C major". But even with the darker, earlier movements, I find the Klemperer 7th very tough going.

[Prospero]

Certainly the finale is quite a burst of energy and light. One might wonder if there almost too much light. But it is, being Mahler, not monochromatic.