Indeed, Schwarz/Seattle S.O. M8 is very good!

[brunumb]

Has anyone outside of the US ordered this ?
I placed mine (and received confirmation) at the end of May, but it has still not reached me in Australia 
Should I be getting anxious ?

[barry guerrero]

I received my copy pretty darn quickly, so you may want to follow up. Then again, I just live two states away from Washington.

[brunumb]

Thanks Barry.   I contacted the SSO and they got back to me pretty quickly.  They had held the disc for me at the ticket office for pick up 
It should now be on its way. Since I bought it based on comments here, I hope it will be worth the wait.

[barry guerrero]

"Since I bought it based on comments here, I hope it will be worth the wait"

Yikes! While John Kim and I both liked it - and John and I often times don't hear things the same way - Scott, our moderator, didn't care for it nearly as much. Personally, I would put it my top 5 of M8 recordings.

Also, keep in mind that along with the MTT/S.F. Symphony Mahler 8 that's coming out in late August, there will eventually be a David Zinman M8 on RCA. Both of those set of performances had a very solid cast of vocal soloists.

Barry

[John Kim]

Looks like this very fine M8th recording is gone from their store... .

It was only for a limited time and they had a limited number of CDs to sell, so I am not surprised.

But it was an excellent recording by all standards. I still very much like it and would even put it ahead of the Boulez whose Part II. is, for my taste, too dragging.

And the more I hear the Part II. the more I am convinced that Schwarz just got the ending right. The fast tempo he employs near the end of the choral part doesn't bother me anymore. In fact, without such a treat the whole choral passage sounds somewhat too stretched and too sparse. I mean, neither the orchestra nor the chorus isn't in full unison here, so it may be a good idea to get it done as fast as possible and move to the pure orchestral ending which I believe is the true climax of the symphony. Anyway, I've always felt that the chorus here doesn't sound as 'big' and 'grandiose' as the corresponding part in the Resurrection symphony.

John,

[barry guerrero]

In that case, I'm really glad that I ordered one. I really like my copy too. In spite of Vinson Cole's weak performance, I would still rank this in the top 5 of Mahler 8 recordings that I'm aware of. For me, it's just the near flawless balances, in which Benroya Hall plays no small part in making happen. It just sounds good - there's no other way to put it.

Barry

[John Kim]

Hey folks, those who have not purchased this magnificent M8th here is a chance:

http://www.amazon.com/Mahlers-Symphony-Brainerd-Flanigan-Maultsby/dp/B002B41KWA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1251522469&sr=1-5

But hurry up, as there is only ONE copy left  .

John,

[barry guerrero]

John,

It says temporarily out-of-stock, so perhaps there are going to more made up (?). That would be nice.

[John Kim]

oops... i saw one copy left at the time of this posting. now it's gone .

who's got the last copy???

confess!!

john,

[Russ Smiley]

Hey, I'm doing my part to keep the economy rolling!

[John Kim]

Hey, I'm doing my part to keep the economy rolling!

Well bought!!

[Leo K]

Wow...this recording is great...like Barry said, the recorded sound is natural and very pleasing to the ear, with details of the instruments vivdly captured in a great sounding hall.  The singing can be rather forceful in spots as others here have mentioned...but wow...overall I am really impressed by this M8, and upon listening to this perfornance felt my love for the work more than I usually do, with abandon and enjoyment at the orchestration and the wonderful natural sound of the choir...

Cheers all around...a very fine M8!!!

--Todd

[John Kim]

Hello Todd,

How did you like the controversial ending to Part II.?

John,

[Leo K]

Hello Todd,

How did you like the controversial ending to Part II.?

John,

To me, Schwarz laid the groundwork in his tempo choices to prepare us to how his ending would sound, so by the time the slower ending arrived it wasn't jarring, but instead sounded natural...even grand...inspiring...God-like in reverence, much like I imagine the excitement of hearing this work live must be.

Like you said before John, Schwarz has a way with Mahler's tempos that don't upset the flow as MTT does in his choices, resulting in places in the score sounding fresh and new.  To me his ending for the M8 sounded really good as a result.  I also like how he let the tam tam smashes ring out before the next smash.  Great stuff!!!

--Todd