March...M3-a-thon!

[techniquest]

But only movements 3,4 & 5. Sorry guys, I haven't the time to do a reasonable review of the whole symphony by the variety of recordings I would prefer. So here is my take on the middle bits...

1.   Zander / Philharmonia Orch / Telarc

Movement 3 starts with just the right confident delicacy at just the right tempo and bounces along jauntily with the feel of a fairy-world oom-pah. The full orchestra ‘da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da’… outburst is a massively powerful contrast compared with what has preceded. The big downer with this recording is the posthorn. Genuine it might be, but it’s been recorded from the far side of the moon! If it’s meant to be distant and offstage, then the effect is completely lost and it’s near impossible to balance the gentle winds of the orchestra with this faint, far-off wheezing - though to be fair in the parts where the orchestra and posthorn play together, its’ distance doesn’t seem quite so vast. Maybe there are engineering tricks happening here.
As everything drifts away, the muted military bugle summons back the fairy-world oom-pah stuff. As it builds, the brass is really big – tremendous horn sound on this recording – and then this section dies to the next inaudible posthorn part – really this must be pianissimo to the power of 8! The orchestral build up to the horn call that sounds like something from the 7th symphony is well handled, then the end of the movement isn’t rushed, but isn’t too slow. The fast (and difficult to manage) tam-tam hits are in keeping with the individual beats.

Movement 4 starts very eerily, and very quiet. My knowledge of singing soloists is not good but Lilli Paasikivi sounds fine to me, nicely balanced with the orchestra. The oboe / cor anglais ‘pull-ups’ are separated notes for all sets except for glissandi for the second.
It is a movement beautifully done with no sense of time, just lose yourself in the gentleness and melancholy of the mood.

Movement 5 has confident ‘bim-bams’ from the boys and a clear set of ladies. The dynamics seem to have particular attention paid in this movement and some of the bim-bams sound too clipped for my liking. The crescendo are big, indeed rather on the loud side, but it works really well and is a satisfying reading of the movement.

[techniquest]

2.   Nagano / Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin / Elatus

Movement 3 is also at just the right tempo, a little more forceful and thus less delicate than Zander, and with quite stomping basses in the triplets section not long after the intro. The main oom-pah section feels a tad slower then Zander and certainly heavier; not so much a fairy-world here. Naganos is another very distant posthorn (billed as a real one), but is at least still on the same planet as the rest of the band. The off-stage distance effect works far better here and seems to get closer as the playing proceeds. The orchestral section between posthorn solos seems to be in a real hurry, but composes itself with woodwind call prior to the 2nd posthorn entry (the player’s gone into a deep cave for this second part and isn’t coming out).
And so to the end; a rapid build up to the horn calls with a real deep bass drum roll, but the horns diminish rather too quickly. The very end is really fast and the large, deep tam-tam only just scrapes through!

Movement 4 has Dagmar Peckova as the mezzo. This movement is a little faster than I would prefer indeed at times it feels rushed, and the ‘pull-ups’ are distinct 2-note affairs, the second set adding some rotten vibrato!

Movement 5 is quite fast, the singing fine but the separate voices not as distinguishable as the Zander. A lovely delicate triangle in this, and very distinct dotted bass rhythm particularly in the build-up near the middle of the movement. It draws to a good conclusion with very little slowing down of tempo, but a nicely held flute/piccolo at the end.

[techniquest]

3.   Bernstein / NYPO/ Sony

Movement 3: This is Bernsteins 1961 recording, and it is a very fine recording too. As a performance it takes a little getting used to. This 3rd movement is far slower than either of the above and indeed during the triplets section sounds pedestrian. But it gives the movement a new feel; this isn’t oom-pah, it isn’t a fairy-world and it somehow doesn’t feel like anything the animals might have told Mahler (unless they are large, pondering animals – and why shouldn’t they be?). Oddly, the ‘da-da-da-da-da’s’ don’t sound any slower…
The posthorn (once again billed as a real one) enters after the orchestra has slowed even further and sounds nicely off-stage, but easily and clearly audible – far more satisfactory. Personally I’d have preferred a little less vibrato, but maybe that was the fashion in 1961, or maybe Mahler wrote that it should be there, I don’t know.
The orchestral section between posthorns is furious and played at the faster tempo. As is the build up to the horn calls (which also has lovely prominent harp). The very end is a mad dash up with which the tam-tam cannot keep, thus single strokes are heard rather than doubles. Great fun though, even if the brass sound a tad off-key!

Movement 4: The mezzo here is Martha Lipton, the tempo roughly the same as Nagano, so just a tad too fast for my liking. Again the pull-ups are separate notes – the most obviously separate of the recordings reviewed thus far. Excellent solo horn at about the same volume as the posthorn in the previous movement.

Movement 5: Opens with good bells, and clear bim-bams. The clarity between boys and women is balanced beautifully but there is a very prominent glockenspiel. This recording has one of the most menacing tam-tams I’ve heard in this movement alternating with a hissing stand-cymbal, but the brass section is relatively mild. Nice ‘dingy’ ending, but one of the women holds the last note for too long…

[techniquest]

4. Olson / Mahlerfest Orchestra / Mahlerfest + sponsors.

This was the Mahlerfests’ millennium offering, recorded in January 2000.
Movement 3 opens at a steady, tippytoe tempo; the triplets section a little more stomping but the upper strings sounding rather light and definitely a tad ‘out’ throughout. Nice oom-pah feel as the movement progresses though with some great muted brass sneers and lovely ‘da-da-da-da-da…’ scale. In this recording, the posthorn is billed as an off-stage trumpet, but it sounds rather close which suggests that off-stage may be just at the edge of the orchestra rather than at some considerable distance like Nagano, or another solar system like Zander. However we must remember that this is a live recording by an orchestra of both pros and amateurs, and without the recording equipment of the big labels. This makes for a nice live feel to the whole symphony however, and you get to hear little bits in the orchestra that don’t often get through in processed recordings – like a nice farting tuba and a really comical clarinet fluff at the start of the 2nd posthorn (trumpet) section!
The very end is taken steadily – slowly really – but it means the tam-tam has an easy time and this time interchanges with stand cymbal rather than clashed.

Movement 4: O Mensch is sung by Lucille Beer at a slow tempo. Very reserved, very nicely handled. The orchestra is pretty good too, with the horns coping admirably with the chorales and solos. The pull-ups are separate notes similar to Bernstein. This movement is absolutely beautifully performed.

Movement 5: The boys are quite weak with their bim-bams, but the women are adequate enough. Once again Lucille Beer sings with poise, and control. That dotted rhythm is prominent again in the orchestra, this time the bassoons get heard nice and clearly. No menacing tam-tam – this movement is far gentler than maybe it ought to be, and it ends with nice triangle / glock / solo trumpet sounds.

[techniquest]

5.    Rattle / CBSO / EMI


Movement 3 starts at just a tiny bit slower than Zander – maybe at about the same speed as Olson. This takes us back to the delicate fairy-world of Zander, especially in the woodwind (though with ruder clarinets), but with big brassy chorales leading to a precise and explosive ‘da-da-da-da-da-da…’ scale. Rattle slows right down for the entry of the posthorn, which is in the same cave as Naganos. I think rattle has the balance just right for this difficult section, I like the sense of distance with the echo, but it is just audible enough without being either too far or too near. It achieves that sense of drifting away as the muted military bugle call sounds.
The orchestral section which follows doesn’t quite oom-pah, but it does achieve a big sound even if it does lack the furious intensity of Bernstein. The second posthorn solo doesn’t seem to have the finesse of playing of the first, and the build up to the horn calls is too fast – the calls themselves totally lacking in grandeur. The end is good though with clear, precise separate tam-tam / clashed cymbal notes.

Movement 4: Rattles ‘O Mensch’ is precisely sung by Birgit Remmert, but I far prefer Lucille Beers’ interpretation. The whole movement feels too well-polished; it has lost it’s ethereal, searching, other-worldly quality – it’s been sanitised. The pull-ups are definite glissandi in all but the second (the opposite of Zander).

Movement 5 has confident, very British boys doing loud, precise bim-bams; their singing goes well with the muted, sneering brass later in the movement. The ladies sing with lovely crystal clarity and the tinkly percussion is kept far enough away to not be intrusive. The tam-tam and brass are menacing – indeed the tam-tam almost runs away with itself. The tempo throughout is just right and the dynamics are given good heed making for an interesting and satisfying interpretation.

[barry guerrero]

Yes, I like how the childrens chorus sounds big and full on the Rattle. I also don't mind his fast tempo for the symphony's closing bars (some people don't care for that). I love Birgirt Remmert too. I think she sounds a bit better here, than she does on Zinman's M3 (which might be very favorite).

 I like the final movement on Ben Zander's M3, but there's too little from the double basses and tuba. On the very last chord, for example, you hear the third and fifth degrees of the chord very clearly, but not so much the fundamental "D". I also find his posthorn solo to be badly gauged - all but impossible to hear.

The Nagano is a really nice done, fast run-through. Nothing wrong with that iin a piece that's already six movements long.

Thanks for sharing.

[barry guerrero]

I'd like to add that while Rattle has a terrific first movement (he slows down a tad too much and too soon, right after the symphony's very first cymbal crash, which comes immediately after the unison horn fanfare), take a good listen to Zander's first movement as well. After recording the first movement in the usual patchwork manner, Zander listened to the playback material and wasn't happy with the results. He then persuaded Telarc into recording it again, but in a single take (supposedly). Anyway, it is a very cogent performance of that movement. Good trombone solo too - far better than it was on Sinopoli's M3 with the same orchestra.

The Zander isn't a bad M3 at all. I just find the posthorn waaaaaaay too distant sounding. I also think that Paasikivi is just a little too small voiced for the vocal movement. Maybe she was recorded a tad too distantly as well, I don't know.

Barry

[bluesbreaker]

I really love the Haitink M3 with RCO on Philips reissue, the first version I assume. I thhink this one has very unique charm into it. Roght now it's simply my favorite with Lenny's Sony and the Leaper's! Any one who is fan of this Haitink recording?

[barry guerrero]

Any one who is fan of this Haitink recording?

Of course. I still think it's his best one (M3), and certainly far better than his last one from Chicago.

Barry

[akiralx]

I really love the Haitink M3 with RCO on Philips reissue, the first version I assume. I thhink this one has very unique charm into it. Roght now it's simply my favorite with Lenny's Sony and the Leaper's! Any one who is fan of this Haitink recording?

I was disappointed with the early Haitink, though I've never heard the CSO one.   From my earlier post about the RCO version: 'I was disappointed with it - mainly because it lacks the flair and individuality of my favourite M3s (Kobayashi, Boulez, Litton), Maureen Forrester sounds too lugubrious, mature, even matronly, and the Finale opens too loudly - though this may be partly the fault of the vivid recording, which I have to admit is very good for a 40+ year old recording. 

The playing too is very good.  I prefer BH's Christmas Matinee version.'

[barry guerrero]

Yeah, sure; fair enough. I do like Forrester, because I do feel that heavy, "earth mother" voices work well in M3; as long as you also get sufficient quickness and brightness in the contrasting "bim-bam" movement afterwards. The earth mother voices her heavy woes for man, and the little heavenly angels bring reassurance of better times. I think that just that sort of contrast, happens pretty well on Haitink's very first M3. It also just keeps going, which is very, very important in a very long, six movement symphony.

Barry

[sperlsco]

I agree that the Nagano is an under-rated and under-appreciated M3.  It is easily one of my favorites.  A couple of other fast ones that I really enjoy are the Jordan/Suisse Romande and the Neumann/Czech PO/Supraphone. 

BTW, I am fairly certain that Nagano and Jordan were M3 recommendations from BG several years ago.   

[barry guerrero]

"BTW, I am fairly certain that Nagano and Jordan were M3 recommendations from BG several years ago"

They certainly were. I still like them.