Author Topic: Posting Europadisc review of Adam Fischer M8 because I agree with it.  (Read 3124 times)

Offline barryguerrero

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Hi folks. I've listened through the new Adam Fischer M8 twice and pretty much agree with the review that Europadisc posted on their own website. In fact, I think the cast of soloists is even better than the reviewer indicates here. My ONLY complaint is that there are no extra tracks in either Part I or Part II. In a way, that's good (I suppose) because it forces you to commit the time to listen all the way through each part. Anyway,   .    .    . 

"Mahler’s Eighth Symphony may have given the composer the greatest triumph of his career when he conducted its première on 12 September 1910, but it has given conductors ever since something of a headache. Partly that’s due to the huge performing forces required: eight solo singers, children’s choir, two vast choruses, plus a huge orchestra with organ soon led to it being dubbed the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’, and unlike any of Mahler’s other numbered symphonies, the voices are used more or less constantly throughout the two-part work. The subject matter is ambitious too: Part 1 sets the great Latin hymn to the Holy Spirit, ‘Veni, Creator Spiritus’, while Part 2 sets the formidably challenging closing scene from Part 2 of Goethe’s Faust. For many otherwise committed Mahlerians, the Eighth has proved a stumbling block, even a downright embarrassment, and the Mahler conductors who have avoided it altogether (on aesthetic as well as practical grounds) are numerous, while others (such as Abbado and Rattle) have added it only very late in their day to their cycles. Most recently Iván Fischer announced that it would not be part of his otherwise complete and hugely successful Mahler symphony cycle on Channel Classics.

Interestingly, then, the elder Fischer brother, Adam, who has been setting down his own cycle with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra on the C-Avi label, proves to be one of the work’s most committed and persuasive advocates. In a fascinating booklet, he writes that, ‘I can understand why some conductors tend to avoid Mahler’s Eighth,’ but then seems to betray more than a hint of sibling rivalry, or at the very least teasing, when he states, ‘But that is cowardice.’ For Adam Fischer, the Eighth is full of risks, but they are risks fully worth taking: with Mahler, he seems to suggest, it is very much a case of all or nothing. Well, with his splendid Düsseldorf forces plus choirs from Bonn and Cologne and an impressive team of soloists, he more than proves his point.

In fact, this is one of the most eminently musical accounts of the work on disc. The clue is there right at the outset with the opening organ chord: laying a solid foundation, rather than shattering the earth (and the listener’s speakers) from the word go. Over it, the choir and soloists don’t engage in the usual shouting-match-on-steroids, but instead deliver the Latin text with extraordinary clarity and balanced textures, and the orchestra are similarly sensitive: it’s as if Fischer has absorbed all the manifold technical difficulties, and instead of putting them on display with constant interpretative point-making, transcends them in a performance that is allowed to unfold completely naturally – no mean feat in such demanding music. The soloists are not the usual list of starry names but a well-matched team with enough individual character to assume the different mystical (or mythical) identities of the Goethe text in Part 2. Neal Cooper, for instance, may not be the most ringing of tenors in this work, but he makes a thoroughly convincing Doctor Marianus, while bass Peter Rose may lack the true depth and weight of, say, Martti Talvela (for Solti on Decca), but he too is a hugely persuasive Pater Profundus, and baritone Hanno Müller Brachmann is an excellent Pater Ecstaticus. Of the women soloists, all impressive, the stand-out performance is from soprano Fatma Said as a radiantly tender Mater Gloriosa.

For once, the contrast between the throat-grabbing Part 1 and the much more expressively layered Part 2 seems not inconsistency or mismatch on Mahler’s part but a natural progression to a higher level of meaning and insight, the tone-painting of the second part’s opening scene done with tasteful sensitivity rather than attention-seeking special effects. Indeed, this is a performance as far removed from the turbo-charged approach that has become the norm in recent years as you can imagine. Details like the plucked mandolin and other instrumental solos are caught naturally rather than being spotlit, and Fischer’s tempi, dynamics and balance are all similarly well-judged so that it’s only after the performance has finished that the listeners realizes how right they all are. For a recording that really does transport the listener into the higher spheres of spirituality, while transcending the seemingly insurmountable problems posed by the work, this is as good an account as we’ve ever had on disc, brilliantly caught from a series of live performances that must have been memorable indeed. Other conductors should look to their laurels, and maybe at last the Eighth will get more of the non-sensationalist recognition that it richly deserves."

Offline erikwilson7

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Re: Posting Europadisc review of Adam Fischer M8 because I agree with it.
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2019, 03:36:51 AM »
I cannot tell you how excited I am for this release. Every time I revisit Ádám Fischer's Mahler recordings I enjoy them more and more. There really is something special going on in Düsseldorf, of all places. I had many doubts about this team's ability to pull off one of the "big" Mahler symphonies, but it seems they're doing it proper justice in their own way. Their amazing M3 was seemingly a preview of what's to come.

I haven't heard it yet because I haven't ordered the CD, and there are no digital recordings available for purchase or download on the Internet yet, anywhere. I expected a November 15th release, but it seems I'll have to wait until the 22nd.

This may be a bit premature, but I have a feeling Ádám Fischer's Mahler cycle is going to go down as one of the finest—and most unique—of all. The most significant factor here is that Fischer is making us completely re-think and re-evaluate this music we have come to know all too well. We have so many expectations about how this music is supposed to sound, yet Fischer is saying "sure, but this way is also equally valid." It's brilliant if you ask me.
« Last Edit: November 16, 2019, 03:38:59 AM by erikwilson7 »

Offline barryguerrero

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Re: Posting Europadisc review of Adam Fischer M8 because I agree with it.
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2019, 06:03:53 AM »
Very well put.

Offline erikwilson7

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Re: Posting Europadisc review of Adam Fischer M8 because I agree with it.
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2019, 05:30:25 PM »
Barry, how well does Fischer handle the “Alles Vergängliche” through the end?

Offline barryguerrero

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Re: Posting Europadisc review of Adam Fischer M8 because I agree with it.
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2019, 11:28:19 PM »
The orchestral postlude is a bit quicker than I like, but it's well put together. I would say that that isn't the focus of Fischer's 'interpretation'. Hear it first and see what you think. But I think the review above and your personal comments pretty much nail what's really good and different about it.
« Last Edit: November 16, 2019, 11:30:13 PM by barryguerrero »

Offline erikwilson7

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Re: Posting Europadisc review of Adam Fischer M8 because I agree with it.
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2019, 08:00:10 PM »
I was able to hear this for the first time last night, and I held off posting anything on here to avoid hyping about it. This has got to be one of the most refreshingly different M8s I've heard. Granted I haven't nearly listened through every recording that exists, but I might place this near the top at least for its uniqueness, intelligent conducting, and sound quality. There were many moments that raised some eyebrows, like Fischer's quick tempo during the Part II Poco adagio and the "Waldung, sie schwankt heran," but I think it works! It's just different. In the liner notes Fischer describes the choral writing at that part as "stammering," which is essentially what he makes them do. And I too found the soloists to be quite good despite the Europadisc review. None of them detracted from the performance. I really like Fischer's chamber-like approach to the second part, because while this symphony calls for grand proportions, the orchestration of Part II is generally pretty sparse until "Blicket auf." Again with the liner notes, Fischer says that, "if on this recording we have over 500 people singing and playing together, that is only a means, not an end." His 'thesis,' if you will, with this recording is that just because the symphony demands one of the largest ensembles in the repertoire, that doesn't mean it needs to be overly grand and bombastic.

One last thing: this might be the finest Veni, creator spiritus I've ever heard! If only the cymbal crash leading into the recapitulation was louder, but Fischer's phrasing is just so good. His mastery of baroque music was surely shining here. And the Düsseldorf brass rip during the "Accende lumen sensibus!"
« Last Edit: November 22, 2019, 08:03:24 PM by erikwilson7 »

Offline barryguerrero

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Re: Posting Europadisc review of Adam Fischer M8 because I agree with it.
« Reply #6 on: November 24, 2019, 11:11:44 AM »
Very good description and evaluation, Eric, if I may say so. You've really summed up why this Fischer's M8 is different and why it works. I won't call it my favorite M8, but it's definitely a 'keeper'. As for the other Fischer's M8 - Thierry Fischer - I'm afraid I've given up on that one. On repeatedly listening, the sound of the Mormon Tabernacle did bother me. It's also such a 'straight forward' interpretation (tempo relationships) as to be almost boring.

Offline David Boxwell

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Re: Posting Europadisc review of Adam Fischer M8 because I agree with it.
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2019, 09:48:00 PM »
One prominent dissenter: Edward Seckerson in the December 2019 issue of "Gramophone."  He gives AF's Mahler 8 a thorough nobbling. "Overwhelming it is not."

Offline erikwilson7

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Re: Posting Europadisc review of Adam Fischer M8 because I agree with it.
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2019, 11:00:40 PM »
I think Seckerson might be missing the point. Fischer himself states in the liner notes that overwhelming and bombastic are not what his intended approach is. Seckerson has quite the voice though, so that’s bound to dissuade some from appreciating the recording. And the funny thing is that I get it; if Fischer’s approach is not one’s cup of tea then that’s understandable. It’s daringly different, IMO, so there are bound to be detractors.
« Last Edit: December 22, 2019, 01:09:52 AM by erikwilson7 »

Offline Konsgaard

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Re: Posting Europadisc review of Adam Fischer M8 because I agree with it.
« Reply #9 on: December 25, 2019, 07:56:47 PM »
Call me shallow, but I find it impossible (and refuse) to listen to a 2-track recording. Part 1 is on the first track and Part 2 on the second. Very hard to skip to different passages. As for the performance, I only heard bits and pieces randomly but nothing to write home about. I would say it is not a keeper, but I can't since I haven't managed to listen to the whole thing.
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Offline barryguerrero

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Re: Posting Europadisc review of Adam Fischer M8 because I agree with it.
« Reply #10 on: December 25, 2019, 09:24:03 PM »
I agree that it's better to have the extra tracks. However, I also think the Europadisc review is pretty darn accurate. Fischer's M8 is just unique and different enough that I'm going to keep it with the other ones from his series. His Part 1 is over 24 minutes, yet it doesn't sound the slightly bit 'slow' to my ears. I'm not even sure I can analyze how he does it. Part II, on the other hand, flows as a single, unified movement - clocking in at just over 55 minutes. I like his treatment of the long passage that's just before the baritone's solo. He treats it as a sort of faster than normal, incantation for the choirs. It works. That's one passage that just dies on so many performances; so, yes, we hit the 'forward' button to move to the next track (baritone solo). What I will agree with, is that the sound quality isn't as 'open' as it is on the others. It's a bit of a restricted and controlled type of sound. But on the plus side of the equation, the vocal soloists are really quite good, including the tenor. I often times find that these no-name casts do a better job than some or many of the big-name ones. For a lack of a better description, I find it a very 'musical' performance.

 

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