Top 5 M6

[John Kim]

James Levine / LSO on RCA. Terrifyingly terrific!

Agreed. A quite athletic and even balletic view of the Mahler Sixth. Great playing and sound (recorded by Bob Auger?).

John,

[James Meckley]

Great playing and sound (recorded by Bob Auger?)

Yes, by Bob Auger and Paul Goodman, with producer David Saks.

James

[John Kim]

Bob Auger did a great job of engineering Horenstein's two Mahler recordings for Unicorn, M1st and M3rd. I always liked the sound he created, natural, concert hall sounding, with an excellent sonic perspective. What else did he record?

John,

[James Meckley]

Bob Auger did a great job of engineering Horenstein's two Mahler recordings for Unicorn, M1st and M3rd. I always liked the sound he created, natural, concert hall sounding, with an excellent sonic perspective. What else did he record?

Bob Auger also did the Nielsen 5 for Unicorn. He learned his craft by assisting Robert Fine of Mercury Records. His first "solo" commercial recording was Barbirolli's RVW 8 in 1956. He was one of the earliest "freelancers" and was used by a number of companies over the years, including PYE and RCA. He also did some pop work. There must be a discography somewhere on the internet. He died in 1998.

James

[John Kim]

I have the Nielsen 5th on Unicorn. It sounds great and is an excellent N5th by all accounts. The snare drum in I. is something to die for!! . I think it was him who, after Horenstein died, sought after Horenstein archives word wide and got several of them released including a M6th with Stockholm Ph. O. I still love the recording for what it is worth.

John,

[James Meckley]

I have the Nielsen 5th on Unicorn. The snare drum in I. is something to die for!!

Yes, it's the best Nielsen 5 side drum solo I've ever heard, even though he (Alfred Dukes) enters a measure early, stops, and then comes back in at the proper time. There was both a producer (Antony Hodgson) and a musical supervisor (composer Robert Simpson) in place on this project—it's hard to believe neither of them caught his mistake.

James

[waderice]

I'll try to get this thread at least halfway back on track by stating what is to me, the one M6 that would sit at the BOTTOM of my heap, and that is the EMI/Angel recording by (I'm sorry to say, considering how great a conductor he was and whom I admired) Barbirolli.  I've never heard a first movement plod along like his does.  I think there is a BBC Legends recording of him doing the same work.  If so, is that any better?

Wade

[barry guerrero]

I don't know if it's better, but the tempi are - indeed - faster on his "live" recording. Just as an f.y.i., it's been issued on the expensive Testament label, and not on BBC Legends. What's interesting to me is that Barbirolli starts each of the first three movements at tempi that fairly close to those on his EMI studio recording, then speeds up somewhere along the way. I think that the "live" one is a somewhat better performance, but the studio one definitely sounds better.

Barry

[Michael]

Yes Barry, I agree with the better sonics of the studio recording.

And I feel Barbirolli's sixth is one of those special-case recordings; I would love to know his reasoning for the tempo in the first movement.  There are times when I listen to it and I really like the idea, but other times when I really want to be getting on with the work.

[John Kim]

And I feel Barbirolli's sixth is one of those special-case recordings; I would love to know his reasoning for the tempo in the first movement.  There are times when I listen to it and I really like the idea, but other times when I really want to be getting on with the work.

Precisely. That's how I feel about the Barbirolli. I can't live without it, can't live it with it.

Another M6th that is growing on me is Ben Zander/PO/Telarc. I know this recording has not been a favorite among critics but I like the deep sound (not the playing) that Telarc provided for this one. Also, Zander has a few interesting points to make, e.g., in the Scherzo and Andante movts. It comes with his extensive lecture on the piece too.

John,

[John Kim]

... AND let's not forget Gielen's powerfully expressionistic account on Hanssler. It's slow in the opening movt. but never feels slow thanks to Gielen's full-blown, powerful reading from start to finish. The Scherzo is also outstanding with menacing brass and whopping woodwinds where Gielen's delineation of polyphonic really shines through. It may be the best M6 Scherzo along with Rattle's and Bernstein's.

John,

[stillivor]

Since this is, for me, THE mahler symphony, I'm thrilled the thread is  so popular.


   Ivor

[waderice]

Since this is, for me, THE mahler symphony, I'm thrilled the thread is  so popular.


   Ivor

Though M2 is the one for me (and the one most meaningful, from a spiritual standpoint), I feel that M6 is probably his best orchestrated symphony, even if Mahler breaks with his standard of multi-movements and reverts to classical form.  I also feel that most orchestras take the work as a real challenge to their mettle, and the recorded output shows it.

Wade

[Michael]

Another M6th that is growing on me is Ben Zander/PO/Telarc. I know this recording has not been a favorite among critics but I like the deep sound (not the playing) that Telarc provided for this one. Also, Zander has a few interesting points to make, e.g., in the Scherzo and Andante movts. It comes with his extensive lecture on the piece too.

John,

I too like the Ben Zander Mahler 6, although if asked to choose I would take his Boston Philharmonic recording over the Philharmonia Orchestra.  The playing isn't as good as on the Telarc release, but (1) it's a live performance, (2) the orchestra really stretches itself and does well, and (3) the hammer blows are three of the best I've heard.  Although, in the hammer blow department, Andreas Delfs and the Milwaukee Symphony comes close.

Yes, Gielen's M6 is a grinding but forward-moving account.  The first movement has the heavyness of Barbirolli but yet the forward movement of Sanderling.

[John Kim]

Ditto here. I prefer Zander's earlier BPO version over the PO one since it has a better overall shape and more involvement from the players. I was one of the few who were lucky to get Mr. Zander's autograph on the CD cover (he and I were living in Boston at that time and we chatted over the phone one day). I really like the Gielen too. The instrumental colors and timbre that he elicits from the orchestra are amazing and all help to give strength and power to the performance. Along with M3rd and M7th, it's the best in his Mahler cycle.

John,