Liking the Jansons BR Klassik Mahler box just fine, so far

[barryguerrero]

So very late last night, I played both the M1 and M2 from the Jansons/BRSO box. They're both very satisfactory. The sound quality is quite good. I love Janson's treatment of the slow movement to his M1, even if the Eastern European, Klezmer like dance music is a tad exaggerated (I'll take that over under-cooked!). Unlike Boulez, he doesn't take the Scherzo at a racing tempo either. The M2 is really good. It flows very well. My only gripe here is that the high and low tam-tams are too reticent at the end. But overall, it's quite good. I'm looking forward to giving that M3 a shot on the CD player. If it's good enough, I might scrap the Haitink/BRSO one (but would prefer not to).

I've been critical of Jansons up to now, mainly for being too 'lightweight'. You could say that his major climaxes are not enough of an 'apotheosis'. But as always, the devil is in the details.

[erikwilson7]

Thanks for the update, Barry. Will this be your first time hearing any of the nine symphonies from this cycle?

As far as BRSO recordings go, I still prefer the YNS one to Jansons', but the latter is certainly satisfactory to me; I can't complain, really.

The Jansons BRSO M2 got a bunch of polarizing criticism; some loved it, some thought it was terrible. I actually like it quite a bit, but I have the same reservations for your about the tams being too recessed. I've expressed this before, but for some reason this whole cycle's tams seem to be on the quieter side (except at the end of M8). They have body and deep presence (low end), but there's very little attack; they must be huge tams in that case. It's kind of the same situation as Stenz's cycle.

[barryguerrero]

No Eric, I've listened to several of them on Spotify. Part of my deciding to buy this set was due to my frustration that they have yet to release the M4, M6 and M8 from this cycle. Let's put it this way: so far, I'm liking the Jansons/BRSO ones more than the Boulez conterparts. I do have an sacd/cd hybrid of Boulez's M3, and a separate copy of his M6. The only other one I would want a separate copy of - once I sell off my Boulez box - is the Cleveland disc that has Boulez's "DKW" and M10 Adagio. That's a terrific disc.

[erikwilson7]

For me personally, I prefer Jansons in M2, M6, M7, and M9 to Boulez.

And yes, Boulez is wonderful with DKW. It's been my favorite recording of the work for some time.

I'm curious to see what you think of Jansons' M5 once you hear it again in full. While I disagree with how he plays with tempos at the end, it's actually pretty exciting in context with the rest of the symphony.

[barryguerrero]

I've heard Jansons' M5 before, and I do like it. I just wish he plowed on through where the trombones blast out their descending scale, and the strings begin chugging away - THEN slow down for the reprise of the brass chorale. I just prefer it that way (as written). But I have no issue with the rest of his M5. It's certainly more interesting than the Boulez one (Boulez's early BBC S.O. M5 was fabulous).

I've now listened to Janson's BRSO M3, and half of the M4. I like the M3 a lot, and the M4 is better than I thought it was. I like that he has the timpani pound on the final two notes of the first movement. I'm not sure I've ever noticed anyone else do that.

None of these are probably 'first choice' performances, but I just like the consistency of this cycle, both in terms of performances and sound. In that regard, it minds of the Bertini and Inbal cycles, only a bit lighter I suppose.