Anyone listen to Schwarz M7 (Artek) yet? John? Dave?

[barry guerrero]

John,

Did you pick up Schwarz's M7 on Artek. I know that you were thinking of doing so. I thought that the scherzo, posted at Artek's own website, sounded pretty reasonable (with good sound)

Barry

[barry guerrero]

Here's what somebody had to say about it at Allmusic:

The second entry of Gerard Schwarz and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic's cycle of Mahler's symphonies, this 2008 Seventh is considerably better than their first entry, a coupling of the First and Ninth released the year before. For one thing, the orchestra seems more polished and prepared here. The ensemble strings are sweeping the opening Allegro's big climaxes. The solo woodwinds are characterful in the first "Nachtmusik." The massed brass and timpani are brilliant in the opening of the Finale. Even the additional mandolin and guitar parts in the second "Nachtmusik" are well executed. For another, Schwarz himself seems more confident, more at ease, and more under the skin of the music. He unifies the outer movements' diverse episodes, controls the Nachtmusiks tendency toward sentimentality, and keeps the Liverpudlian musicians in order with a firm hand. There are awkward moments: the strings' glissandos sometimes slip in the Scherzo, for example, and the orchestra seems to lose steam two thirds of the way through the Finale. But on the whole, this is a much more convincing effort than the previous entry and indefatigable Mahler aficionados may want to try it. Artek's digital sound is big, close, warm, and vivid.

[John Kim]

Sorry Barry. When I got back to the store (after I changed my mind about it), it was already gone 

My main problem with Schwarz M9th is precisely what the person said; the orchestra sounded underrehearsed, the conductor not quite ready to tackle the piece.

John,

[sperlsco]

I have it.  I listened to it once through a couple of weeks ago.  While I enjoyed the performance, it does not approach my first tier of favorites. It is worthwhile, though, especially if one enjoys hearing different M7's.  Schwarz emphasizes some interesting aspects of the music, but sometimes it seems to be at the detriment of the long line (or the main line).  One of my main complaints with his M9 continues with this performance -- the solo trumpet is very inconsistent in terms of being heard above the rest of the orchestra.  As such, there are various parts that are missing the soaring solo trumpet line.   

[barry guerrero]

Bells? What about tiefe glocken and herden glocken?