Gatti's new M4

[Thomas]

Has anyone heard Gatti's M4 with the RCO on their own label (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Julia-Kleiter-Concertgebouw-Orchestra/dp/B07CBLRX9G/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1529140675&sr=1-1&keywords=mahler+4+gatti) yet? Gatti's previous M4 with the Royal Philharmonic was pretty good, but the RCO is a better orchestra. I was unable to attend the concerts last year from which this recording is taken, but the Dutch newspapers were very positive.

[barryguerrero]

The timings are very similar to his RPO one. Yes, the Concertgebouw is generally the better orchestra. But Ruth Ziesack is really good on the RPO one. I have no idea what Julia Kleiter is like. You might find some things with her on Youtube. Or, if you wait a while longer, this new one will probably show up at Spotify.

Personally, I'm waiting for M3 and M7 from Gatti/RCOA.

[Thomas]

I'm waiting for his M7 as well (he did M3 about two years ago as a replacement for Haitink). He's going to conduct it coming season, next August and March 2019. Not sure if it's going to be released on the RCO Live label, since they just released a (rather poor) M7 with Jansons.
That just leaves M8 (which he'll probably conduct during the Mahler Festival in 2020) and DLvdE and he's already done all the Mahler symphonies with the RCO (it took Chailly a lot longer).

[barryguerrero]

I listened to Gatti's RCOA M4 on Spotify and I really like it. The climaxes to the first and third movements are a tad tame, but also quite 'musical' sounding. It's the second and fourth movements that truly please me. Kleiter is a good singer, but it sounds as though she may be singing from behind the orchestra. But Gatti makes incredible contrasts between fast and slow sections in the finale - meaning that the orchestral bursts are really fast (and sound great, with excellent sleigh bells!). As with his earlier RPO recording, Gatti makes the most out of the various trio sections in the scherzo movement. In fact, I think those passages are done ever better here. Needless to say, the Concertgebouw woodwinds are superb.

 I enjoyed this very much and wouldn't hesitate to buy if I could get it at a reasonable price (it's very expensive at Amazon). As a final note, Kleiter does a wonderful job with that descending slide that the soprano has near the end of the finale (Sankt Ursula selbst dazu lacht!). Beautifully executed.

Added later:

Another aspect that I like, is that Gatti isn't afraid to add lots of portimenti in the upper strings. Yet, none of it sounds less than tasteful to me. I especially the series of portimenti towards the end of the first movement.

[Freddy van Maurik]

Barry, as you've undoubtedly noticed, you can get it at Zoverstocks (through Amazon) at $18,46 plus $4 shipping.
Or, at Dodax.com, at $20,65 with free shipping.
Reasonable enough? 

Cheers,
Freddy

[Thomas]

Barry, my copy arrived yesterday and I think you're absolutely right about the trio sections in the scherzo, they're amazing! The woodwinds are in fine form and the sound engineers did a wonderful job capturing the acoustics of the Grote Zaal. I also think Kleiter is singing from behind the orchestra.
The tempo for the third movement feels just right, Gatti never wallows in slowness, if fact, his rendition of this movement reminded me a lot of the beautiful Kletzki recording with the Philharmonia.

I've only listened to it once, but I think I like this RCO M4 better than Mengelberg, Van Beinum, Solti, Haitink 1 and 3, Bernstein, Chailly and Jansons. I also love Haitink 2 (with Roberta Alexander), but Gatti has a bit more character.
Among recent recordings, I would rate it much higher than Tilson Thomas (talk about wallowing in slowness..) Zinman and Honeck, but not Fischer and Stenz (I haven't heard the Macal yet). Of course, it's not a competition, but it's aways fun comparing..

[barryguerrero]

Thank Thomas. We have very similar tastes and ways of looking at things. I'm sure we'll butt heads at some point 

And Freddy, thank you for posting those lower costs. I'll check out Dodax.