B.P.O. coming out with its own Mahler box

[barryguerrero]

Hi everyone. HMV Japan is showing that the Berlin Phil. is issuing its own Mahler symphonies box: 10 CD's and 4 BluRay discs. It also comes with a very big booklet. All of it is post-Karajan and post-Abbado. The line up is: I - Daniel Harding;  II - Andris Nelsons;  III - Dudamel;  IV - Nezet-Seguin;  V - Dudamel;  VI - Petrenko;  VII & VIII - S. Rattle;  IX - Haitink;  X (Adagio only) Abbado (OK, I lied). Given the glitz and high price of this set, I'm surprised they didn't toss in a "DLvdE" - they have plenty of them. For anyone who is serious about this set (I might be), I'd suggest waiting until it shows up at the Berlin Phil's own website. The'll probably make it available as a download too.

https://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist_Mahler-1860-1911_000000000019272/item_Symphonies-Nos-1-10-Berlin-Philharmonic-10CD-4BD_11411144

[John Kim]

I'd be interested in Harding's 1st, Nelsons' 2nd, YNS' 4th and Haitink's 9th. Are Dudamel 3rd and/or 5th any good?

John

[ChrisH]

I'd be interested in Harding's 1st, Nelsons' 2nd, YNS' 4th and Haitink's 9th. Are Dudamel 3rd and/or 5th any good?

John

I have a radio rip of a Dudamel 5th with New York. It's pretty good, but I tend to enjoy any Mahler 5 with the New York Phil brass section. It hasn't replaced any of my favorites.

[erikwilson7]

This is exciting.

The Rattle M8 is much better than his Birmingham account, to my ears. He’s less wonky with the tempi throughout, specifically the ends of each movement.

I’m surprised they didn’t include the Abbado Das Lied from that same M10 adagio concert. It’s actually quite a fantastic account with Kaufmann and Otter as the soloists.

[barryguerrero]

I agree, Erik: why didn't they throw in that "DLvdE" as well?   .    .    .   Perhaps they would have to pay the 'big bucks' to both Kaufmann and von Otter (?). I also want to hear Rattle/B.P.O. in both M7 and M8. I'm hoping they'll put this set on Spotify. If not, I might spring for it - IF the cost is a lot less from Presto Classical, or directly from the B.P.O. Someone on the FaceBook Mahler page offered the opinion that the Dudamel/BPO M3 is quite good. I'm thinking they should have used Mehta instead. Didn't one of the Fischer brothers also do M3 in Berlin? I could easily live without Abbado doing just the Adagio to M10.

John, I have the DVD of A. Nelsons doing M2 with the V.P.O. at Salzburg. I really like it, although he treats it as almost a more solemn occasion than usual (except for the end, of course). It's really very good, though.   

[erikwilson7]

If the Rattle performances are the same as on the BPO digital concert archive, I’ve heard them. In fact, all of these performances are on there except the Dudamel M3. I’m sure it’s fine, but they REALLY should have included the substitute Lorenzo Viotti M3 from earlier this year. It was an absolute knockout. I totally absolutely do not have an illegal .flac rip of that if anyone (doesn’t) want it; feel free to (not) contact me about it.

Yes Barry, I. Fischer did M3 a couple years ago. I haven’t heard that one yet either but it’s in the archive.

From what I remember of what I watched: Harding M1 is pretty good, not spectacular. Nelsons M2 is pretty much how Barry described about the VPO one. Haven’t heard the Dudamel M3 or YNS M4. Dudamel M5 is generally very good: better than his commercial release but not as good as the NYPO radio rip (can’t beat the New York brass). I personally really like the cooler Petrenko M6, but wish it was S/A. Rattle’s M7 and M8 are surprisingly good, both better than his Birmingham recordings. And the Haitink M9 to me is also mostly very good, if a bit too ponderous.

[John Kim]

Barry,

I have a question about the Nelsons/VPO M2nd DVD. I saw the last few min. of the video and found one thing very odd and disappointing. In the final peroration, Nelsons had the two soloists seated. Moreover, they didn't sing!

Why??

John

[barryguerrero]

Good question. I never even thought about that. It's not the sort of detail that would bug me. I'll have another look. My guess - and this is just a guess - that the choral part isn't written into their printed parts. But I'll have a look.

[James Meckley]

According to the Universal Edition score, the soprano and alto soloists are tacet from figure 46 to the end, meaning they do not participate in the big choral ending. Nelsons was simply adhering to the score as written.

[sbugala]

I'm puzzled why they'd pick Harding's M1, when that's who was picked to do M1 in the Concertgebouw set.

And I agree...Mehta's M3 would've been a good pick.

[erikwilson7]

sbugala,

From what I can see on their website, the Mahler Firsts they have recorded live are Harding, Mehta 2011, a Dudamel, a few Rattles from his time, a Haitink from the 90s, and Abbado’s inaugural concert from 1989. Nelsons has one scheduled for this season as well.

My guess is they picked the Harding over the Mehta. They didn’t choose any of the Rattles because they did for 7 and 8, and didn’t want to crowd the field with his name. Same with Dudamel already having 3 and 5.

My two cents. Otherwise I’m not sure. It’s a good-not-great M1.

[barryguerrero]

Here's from the B.P.O.'s own website. I'll probably purchase the download at some point. https://www.berliner-philharmoniker-recordings.com/mahler-symphonies.html

[sbugala]

I'm hoping it's similar their Bruckner cycle. On Amazon, each track was reasonable...and could be purchased individually regardless of the size of the movement. Sometimes, I get credits...and I'd love to slowly assemble to cycle.

[erikwilson7]

I have a feeling this set won’t be available on streaming platforms, since the Bruckner one isn’t either.
I’ll probably end up buying it then.

They got me this time...

[barryguerrero]

Erik, Rattle's B.P.O. Mahler 6 is at Spotify. The Berlin Phil's website shows that they'll be selling a download at about half the price of buying the physical discs and having them shipped. https://www.berliner-philharmoniker-recordings.com/mahler-symphonies.html