General Category > Gustav Mahler and Related Discussions

Vanska/MO/BIS Mahler 2nd SACD

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John Kim:
Russell,

Thanks.

My colleague who heard the recording confirmed the excellent of the performance but he lamented that the bells in the closing pages are inaudible.

barryguerrero:
Huh? John, when I listened to it on the e-classical link provided here, the deep bells were very present. I'm baffled.

ChrisH:
Listened to a bit of this just now. On my system the bells sounded good, but maybe a bit unatural. The tams sounded very....crispy to my ears. I feel like the engineers made a point to bring this moment out. The organ was well balanced, and the choirs are really forward. I really liked Manny Laureano's trumpet playing, especially his sound on the Monette. 

Konsgaard:
Hi! I'm the one who thought the bells are not very audible. After listening to the recording many times I am not bothered anymore, it mostly has to do with the sound of the deep bells rather than the recorded sound. I mean you can hear them OK, it's just there are other recordings where they are way more prominent. Anyway, I didn't care much for Vanska's 5th or 6th but this Resurrection is really good. You can read my full review here:
https://thehigharts.com/mahler-symphony-2-resurrection-vanska-minnesota-orchestra/

But to cut a long story short there is much to admire. The highlights are:

-The precision of the string playing in the first movement.
-The Andante which is shaped with great care, listen to the portamentos and the left-right separation of the strings. Here the Andante really sings!
-The clarity of the finale.

Weaknesses? I'd have preferred a more European sound from both soloists and choir and slower tempos overall. But this is a very fine Mahler 2nd (and this comes from someone who doesn't always agree with Vanska's lean treatment of the orchestra in other recordings). Not a "spiritual" Resurrection but well played nonetheless.

barryguerrero:
Thanks. Whn listening on e-classical, the deep bells are very present to me. I guess playback can have so much to do with the results. In this recording, they are using true bells rather than the ubiquitous rolling rack of tubular chimes (holy doorbells). I assume that you're aware that the deep bells are not written to just play whatever, willy-nilly. Instead, Mahler writes very precise alternating salvos between the two gongs (tam-tam) and three bells. Some conductors do have the bells play ad lib, but that's not what's written. What I liked on this recording, is that I could hear ALL of the salvos from both gongs and all three bells. That rarely happens.

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