Yes, this was very good!! - made when Abbado originally had some fire in him. He lost that fire towards the latter 1980's (health issues), but sort of regained it towards the end. Anyway, for timings, I get: I - 33:10; II - 9:11; III - 16:20; IV - 9:50; V - 4:34; IV - 24:46 . . . . It's interesting to note that Abbado did not do the excessively soft, 'mushy' sounding timpani thing at the end of the symphony, like it is on his VPO recording from just two years later. Also, I like how the offstage snare-drum solo in the first movement is done relatively slowly, and is perfectly audible (not too distant). The coda to the third movement is terrific, although I would have liked to have heard more of the ascending harp glissandos that happen when the horns and trombones do their ascending octave jump business. I suppose that wouldn't happen without 'spot miking' the harps there.
Topic: Abbado/RCO Mahler 3rd archive (1978) (Read 16891 times)