I discovered this yesterday and found this little known CD to hold one of the most fantastic renderings of the M3 I ever heard. The sound quality isn't the most optimum in every case, but I could still hear details of the score I never heard on other CD's...the percussion here is simply incredible...the tam tam, snare and the timpani are better heard...(I am tempted to claim)...than any SACD's of this work, it is really a treat. To clearly hear the tam tam makes a HUGE difference in this work...it is so important it is almost a deal breaker for me. It is why I like Abbado/VPO or Zinman's recent account. The brass, especially the trumpets break through with stunning clarity. The first movment is like Abbado/VPO or Zinman's recent but even more fun, wild and loud..almost out of control. The trombone solo is a cross between the Haitink/RCO Kerst matinee and Kobayashi Exton accounts...in other words, grand and epic but with much character in the tone and breath. The second and third movements have slightly more character than Horenstein, with a real flow and "prickly" quality...more rough and rambunctious than usual (again, the orchestral detail is colorful and clearly heard). The third movement uses a "posthorn" that sounds more like a muted coronet than a trumpet...I'm not sure exactly what they're using here, but it's interesting and much better than Horenstein's flugelhorn. The oboe in the "Oh Mensch" is quirky but haunting...the slides are slowed down so the "middle" note in the slide is heard longer...quite unothodox, but yet appealing in it's rough-out-of-tune quality and sounding like a bird like no other performance I've yet heard. The Contralo is heavy but there is no excess in vibrato...she is quite good...almost like Petra Lang but with more nuance in the phrasing.
The sound picture reminds me of the Kondrashin M7 on Tahra...as if we are seated in the middle in the hall, not too far to miss Mahler's intended "blend" that results when seated where everything can be heard correctly. The BRSO give all they've got, which makes up for any lack of refinement heard elsewhere...the work is even all the better for the enthusiastic agression the orchestra uses.
The final two movements don't quite live up to what was heard previously, but they are not bad by any means, there is just not as many musical discoveries as the rest, but the strings are actually quite good in the Adagio...which is very slow until Rogner rushes too much towards the finish. At least the brass has character, such as the wonderful trombones. But still, this is a keeper! Don't hesitate to buy if you see it in the used bin!
--Todd
