Top Ten

[Leo K]

Leo's current top ten Mahler 9th Symphony recordings:

1.David Zinman, Aspen Festival Orch, (1997 broadcast)...Yes this recording is THAT good.

2.Robert Olson, Colorado Mahlerfest Orch, CO Mahlerfest label (2005)

3.Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic, (2008) EMI

4. Gary Bertini, Tokyo Metropoliton Symphony Orch, Fontec

5. Seji Ozawa, Saito Kanien Orch, Sony

6. Benard Haitink, European Concert Youth Orch, Phillips

7. Leonard Bernstein, Concertebouw Orch, Deustche Gramophone label (Japan pressing)

8. Leonard Bernstein, Boston Symphony Orch, Memories label (1979)

9. Jascha Horenstein, London Symphony Orch, Music and Arts

10. Daniel Barenboim, Staatskapelle Berlin, Warner



It appears from this list that I am currently in the mood for "rougher" but passionate M9's...in the live setting!

Soon I'll post other top ten Mahler recordings of the other symphonies....have to think on it!

What are your current favs?


--Todd

[John Kim]

Todd,

I really like your top ten list.

I very much agree with the Zinman. It is currently the best all round M9th in my book. It has many outstanding features of the old masters, e.g., Klemperer and Horenstein, but it is the near perfect mixture of all these elements that Zinman somehow and miraculously demonstrated in this concert. Everything in this performance sounds so 'right' and convincing that once you heard it you will never want to hear the symphony in any other way. If only he an Tonhalle Orch. can reproduce it in updated sound in the upcoming RCA recording   

I'd also endorse the Bertini II. recorded live in Japan. Compared to his early EMI outing Bertini's interpretation had matured, so you can naturally expect this one would beat the EMI recording in every aspect. Not quite! I am afraid The playing of TMSO was not quite up to their challenge; I hear fatigue in the brass in the climactic passages in I. and the horns are constantly mistuned in II. Never mind as it is still a technically impressive and emotionally engaging performance that everyone must not pass up.

For a similar reason I'd pick Ozawa's BSO over the Saito Kinen Orch; I like Ozawa's ripe approach in the more recent recording but am not entirely happy with the playing.

Todd, I am a bit surprised you didn't pick Dohnanyi/CVLO/Decca, Macal/CPO/Exton, or Levine/Philly/RCA.

Best,

John,

[Leo K]

John,

I am soo suprised I didn't think of the Macal!  I really like the first movement in that one...and I have not yet heard the Dohnanyi!

At this time, I must really like the rougher played but still dedicated execution on most of the recordings on my list.  These are recordings that keep me on the edge of my seat!

The Levine Philly is a great M9, and so is the Macal...the playing is phenominal is these performances...I highly recommend these for those who desire transcendant playing and well structured M9's.

--Todd

[Leo K]

Oh and John, I like your thoughts on the Zinman...I strongly agree!

This recording of a broadcast reveal details of the score I never usually hear...the inner voices are well heard, especially in the second movment.

The first movement is unlike any rendition I have heard...the excitement is palpable...the first movement climaxes have never sounded so crushing and devasting, so dark...it really is amazing.

--Todd

[barry guerrero]

interesting list. I look forward to Zinman making a commercial recording of M9 for RCA.

Barry

[Leo K]

interesting list. I look forward to Zinman making a commercial recording of M9 for RCA.

Barry

I'll be really waiting for this...if Zinman can get the same results, and the sound has excellant SACD/CD sonics...this will be the M9 to rule them all!!

--Todd

[John Kim]

This live Zinman M9th really took me by throat and wouldn't let it go.  I mean, it's so musically convincing, technically assured but it is also emotionally high charged performance. Karajan's second recording was also a searing one but everything else didn't go as well as the Zinman.

The second climax in I. especially hits the listener like a Tsunami surging into an Oregon shore.

Please Mr. Zinman, repeat what you had done back in 1997 but make sure you get top quality playing and sound this time around. 

John,

[Seán]

An interesting list Leo.   There are a few in there that I wan't aware of.  How about Barbirolli/BPO and the Klemperer recordings also?  Actually the Barbirolli is my current favourite.

[barry guerrero]

I don't know, Sean. For me, Barbirolli's Berlin 9th is rather pretty sounding, but way too soft edged for the 9th symphony; the one Mahler symphony that comes closest to the expressionistic sound-world of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern (especially Berg). In that regard, I think it's the weakest of the various BPO Mahler 9ths. I also don't care for the way it's proportioned. Granted, the playing is quite technically assured for those times.

Klemperer's Philharmonia M9 is pretty good; certainly much more rough edged and "expressionistic" sounding than the Barbirolli. However, I like the live one that he did with the Vienna Phil. even better. To my mind, it's still the best M9 that the VPO has made (not a symphony that they've had a whole lot of success with, in my opinion).

Barry

[John Kim]

An interesting list Leo.   There are a few in there that I wan't aware of.  How about Barbirolli/BPO and the Klemperer recordings also?  Actually the Barbirolli is my current favourite.

I agree with Barry on the Barbirolli/BPO M9th. I was let down by the Klemperer/PO/EMI M9th due to inadequate playing; just listen to various spots in I. and you'll see what I mean.

His VPO live concert is better in that regards and like Barry I too consider it a superb M9th.

John,

[Dave H]

Interesting list indeed. There is only one performance there that might make my "top ten" list--Bernstein/Concertgebouw, and several that I regard as just plain horrible. Here, if anyone cares, is my top 12 list (couldn't limit it to just 10):

Ancerl (Supraphon--amazingly urgent and characterful, with the Czech Phil in top form)
Bernstein (Sony or DG--the "let it all hang out" choices)
Chailly (Decca--simply stunning playing by any definition, and an intensely lyrical interpretation)
Pesek (Virgin--a real sleeper--full of good ideas and surprisingly well played by the Liverpool orch.)
Solti/LSO (Decca--not being Solti fan, this is really special, sumptuous and kind of Straussian, but it works)
Karajan II (DG--one of his greatest recordings of anything)
Ozawa (Philips--perhaps the most perfectly played performance on disc; the live concert was one of the most astonishing things I have ever seen)
Masur (Teldec--really interesting conception--slightly underplayed first movement but unusually weighty finale)
Levine/Philly (RCA--Barry hates that slow finale but I think they sustain it well)
Bertini/Cologne (EMI--and speaking of slow finales)
Haitink/Concertgebouw (Philips--vintage Concertgebouw before they started sounding like everyone else)
Sanderling (Berlin Classics--much better than his draggy Erato recording, a nicely grim and determined Germanic reading)

The Ninth has been very lucky on disc, but then it also seems to be one of those pieces that somehow "plays itself," at least to the extent that the music is so affecting that it hardly fails to make a strong impression--unless the conductor is more interested in himself than in the music (Rattle), or is simply cloddish and incompetent (Horenstein). Sorry folks--I know that's shooting a sacred cow or two, but there it is. Chacun a son gout! 

Dave H

[John Kim]

Dave,

Welcome to the Mahler Ninth club! 

Your top 12 list is almost identical to mine except for the Karajan II., Sanderling, and Masur. We have already debated about the merits and demerits of the live Karajan recording so, I don't want to rehash my opinions here. Simply put, I can't live with his treatment of the opening movt. and to a lesser degree, of the middle two movts. Or, it might be the BPO who had an unlucky day. It is "intensely beautiful without much bite" and I don't think it fits well into Mahler's world.

Not that I dislike the Masur but again the first movt. bothers me, i.e., it's too fast without much depth. But I like II.-IV very much. I have a vague memory of not liking the Sanderling from Berlin mainly because of the playing and recording quality.

Having said all these, my top choices remain with (if I limit myself to commercial recordings):

Bernstein/RCO/DG
Levine/PO/RCA
Ozawa/BSO/Philips
Chailly/RCO/Decca
Macal/CPO/Exton

Best,

John,

[Leo K]

Interesting list indeed. There is only one performance there that might make my "top ten" list--Bernstein/Concertgebouw, and several that I regard as just plain horrible. Here, if anyone cares, is my top 12 list (couldn't limit it to just 10):

Ancerl (Supraphon--amazingly urgent and characterful, with the Czech Phil in top form)
Bernstein (Sony or DG--the "let it all hang out" choices)
Chailly (Decca--simply stunning playing by any definition, and an intensely lyrical interpretation)
Pesek (Virgin--a real sleeper--full of good ideas and surprisingly well played by the Liverpool orch.)
Solti/LSO (Decca--not being Solti fan, this is really special, sumptuous and kind of Straussian, but it works)
Karajan II (DG--one of his greatest recordings of anything)
Ozawa (Philips--perhaps the most perfectly played performance on disc; the live concert was one of the most astonishing things I have ever seen)
Masur (Teldec--really interesting conception--slightly underplayed first movement but unusually weighty finale)
Levine/Philly (RCA--Barry hates that slow finale but I think they sustain it well)
Bertini/Cologne (EMI--and speaking of slow finales)
Haitink/Concertgebouw (Philips--vintage Concertgebouw before they started sounding like everyone else)
Sanderling (Berlin Classics--much better than his draggy Erato recording, a nicely grim and determined Germanic reading)

The Ninth has been very lucky on disc, but then it also seems to be one of those pieces that somehow "plays itself," at least to the extent that the music is so affecting that it hardly fails to make a strong impression--unless the conductor is more interested in himself than in the music (Rattle), or is simply cloddish and incompetent (Horenstein). Sorry folks--I know that's shooting a sacred cow or two, but there it is. Chacun a son gout! 

Dave H

Dave H, thank you for posting your list...I was wondering what your list would consist of.  I have to agree on the Levine I, Bertini on EMI, the Karajan II on DG, and the Ancerl recordings...very moving and powerful. I have not heard the Pesek...thanks for the heads up on this!  I ought to give the Chailly a relisten.

Some months ago I purchased the Solti LSO and the Ozawa BSO/Phillips (I've only heard selections)...so look forward to finally hearing these preformances.

--Todd

[Polarius T]

The ones I find inexhaustible in their riches one way or another and keep returning to over and over again:

Abbado/BPO on the Netherlands Radio "Mahler Feest" box set (I cannot imagine a more perfectly done 9th);

Abbado/BPO on DG;

Abbado/VPO on DG;

Boulez/CSO on DG;

Klemperer/NPO on Jpn Toshiba (a much better remastering job compared to the U.K. EMI reissue of the same, btw);

Maderna/BBC SO on BBC Legends;

Sinopoli/SKD on Profil/Haenssler;

Walter/Columbia SO on Sony.

To think of it, probably also in this order of preference. The Walter is quite dubious but I enjoy it as a counterbalance to other performances on this list -- kind of like letting it loose and having a bit of fun with it for a change.

I don't have time nor patience to keep returning to any of the others (there is too much great music around and too little time in a human life), although I have kept the Chailly and Bernstein/NYPO for comparisons and as a museum piece, respectively. What for different reasons I feel intrigued enough by to still want to spend time with:

Bertini with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra players on Fontec (the combination is quite interesting);

Sanderling/Berlin SO on King (Jpn) (this seems like a very good transfer and I'm a fan -- he's always so sound in the execution and profound in his conception);

Ozawa/Saito Kinen on Philips (piqued by their excellent M2);

Klemperer/VPO live on Testament (a "must" for me but I want the whole box set so I've hesitated with the ridiculous collector's-item price);

and -- shame on me for not having heard it yet -- Barenboim/Berlin Staatskapelle on Warner even if I don't expect it to be revelatory in any special way, "just" good (for me there aren't too many good ones around of the 9th) (how do you like it, Todd?).

The one I'd want to get when and if he ever records it: Fabio Luisi with SKD.

PT

[barry guerrero]

OK, I'm going to be THE cranky one: I don't care for Mahler's 9th enough to bother thinking of a Top 10 list (I prefer Bruckner's). That said, I can't imagine why the Chailly/Concertgebouw one wouldn't make it on to somebody's top 10 list - especially in the sacd/cd hybrid pressing.

Bernstein's live 1979 Tangelwood performance would certainly be near the top of my list.