Nott/Bamberger Symphony Orch./Tudor M9th - my first impression

[John Kim]

On repeated hearings, this Nott M5th has grown on me quite a lot.

It has utterly natural sound that expands and contracts like a bubble reproducing the sound stage as authentically as I can imagine. Nott's attention to minute details, especially in the first two movts. is amazing and something I've become fond of. I also love the Adagietto in his hands. This one really sounds like a love song rather than a deep meditation as it usually does. The early timpani entry in the Finale doesn't bother me much; in this recording the percussion is not very prominent, so why be bothered?

John,

[barry guerrero]

John, (and everyone else)

I did a spot-check on various parts of the Nott/Bamberg M9. While I agree that it sounds fairly good, you MUST hear the Alan Gilbert/Stockholm Phil. M9 that's coming out on BIS. I don't know if it's better from an interpretive standpoint, but the playing and the sound quality are absolutely first rate. Van Bahr doesn't go into recording Mahler much. So, when he does issue Mahler, it has to be reeeeeally good. I like that the two outer movements are of about equal length, both clocking in at less than 28 minutes. That's just about ideal to me. My ONLY criticism of Alan Gilbert, is that he takes the first waltz section in the second movement at a pretty fast clip. I prefer it when each of the three waltz episodes gets progressively faster, which means that you can't take the first one terribly fast at all.

In fact, I like it when the first waltz episode is treated as a "L'isteso Tempo" to the previous, opening Laendler. In other words, quarter note = quarter note (conducting the waltz in three; not in one). After that, the second and third waltz passages would need to be conducted in one. The tail end of the third waltz should be flying! Anyway, that's how I like the 2nd movement to be done. The various Laendler sections shouldn't dilly-dally too much eiter, as they're always rather long. They should have some swing and lilt to them, but also not feel "draggy".

Barry

[John Kim]

Barry,

I too love the sound and playing of the Gilbert M9th but I cannot say I enjoyed his reading that much. Compared to say, Chailly, Nott, and even Karajan, Gilbert's handling of the symphony is too straightforward and one-dimensional. There isn't all that much subtlety and sophistication in his reading. Nott, OTOH, is incredibly sensitive to the dynamics, balance, and phrasing. The difference is like drinking water and green tea. It surely made a big impression upon my first hearing but it didn't wear well.

John,

[barry guerrero]

To each their own. The Nott doesn't do that much for me, but I need to investigate it further.

[sperlsco]

Have listened to the whole CD again.

This time, it was difficult to notice any difference between the two discs. Maybe it's all in my mind .

Anyway, I have no reason to change my verdict on Nott's M9th. If the orchestra is not BPO, VPO, or RCO, Nott's way with this symphony is pretty much all I can wish for. Make no mistake. His reading is NOT want of fire and passion; they are all there indeed whenever called for.

I encourage you to go after this magnificent new Mahler Ninth by all means.

John,

I went back to find this older thread on the Nott M9 to further discuss the sound.  Listening in multi-channel SACD, I can't say that I prefer the sound of the second disc (mvts III & IV) to the first.  I find the double basses to be severly lacking in body and weight in the last two movements, although I don't know if it is the sound recording or the orchestral section.  I don't notice the same problem in the first two movements. 

I'll mention again that I love Nott's expert handling of tempi throughout.  From a horizontal standpoint, this is a good as it gets in my book.  As for the orchestra, I've seen the Bamberger's referred to as a provincial orchestra, but much of the playing is quite excellent.  I can't believe a city of 70,000 has an orchestra that is so polished!  I just wish they had the double-bass section from my beloved Houston Symphony! 

[John Kim]

Scott,

Thanks for your report.

I have not heard it on SACD layer yet so it helps.

I am glad you're still sticking to your positive opinion about the recording. I too have some issue with the sound. Let's face it. Nott M9th doesn't sound as good as the Gilbert M9th although that one has its own problem, e.g., the harsh sound quality in the high end. I am really looking forward to check the sound on SACD.

John,

[alpsman]

I can't believe a city of 70,000 has an orchestra that is so polished!   

Bamberg is a real beauty-I mean the city-medieval and romantic. The orchestra is the old German Philharmonic of Prague. When the Germanic population of Bohemia and Moravia(not the troops but people actually lived there for 6-7 centuries) kicked out to Germany after 1945, an orchestra created in Bamberg: This is the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and this is the reason they had played excellently Smetana's Ma Vlast.

[Leo K]

Going through the whole performance tonight...and my third time through the 1st movement...with each listening the 1st movement performance gets better and more deep.

Great stuff!!!


 

--Todd

[John Kim]

Several folks including myself complained about the sound in I. being somewhat different and at a lower level than the rest. I found out that if I turn the volume way up and listen I hardly notice any differences in the sonic quality. So try it.

John,

[mahlerei]

Here's John Quinn's review:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Feb10/mahler9_Nott_Tudor7162.htm

[John Kim]

Good to read another positive review .

John,

[John Kim]

Here is another rave review written by Ronald Legum of www.audaud.com (it was kindly forwarded by Bob Berkman):


MAHLER: Symphony No. 9 - Bamberger Symphony/ Jonathan Nott -Tudor multichannel SACD (2 discs)7162  [Distr. by Naxos] *****:

The Mahler 9th is a symphonic universe, a summation of that form initiated by Haydn and sculpted by Beethoven and Bruckner.  Listener involvement in the 9th is heady stuff. The work deals with the trials associated with living with always the  nearness of death. If, as Keats puts it, “death is life’s high mead, then life’s journey is the story. As did Stauss in Ein Heldenleben (1898), the 9th Symphony cites Mahler’s earlier works. But these references, rather than heroic, are invariably ironic. The visceral joy found in the second movement Landler becomes progressively bitter and farcical. The third movement Burlesk reaches an ultimate whirligig of ironic energy. The final movement Adagio initially emulates Bruckner, but becomes increasingly unadorned until it is an empty shell, skeletal, bereft of life. The first movement Andante Comoto summarizes Mahler’s life journey. It is a treatise upon the ebb and flow of human existence, the ups and downs of the body and spirit, an overview of the movements to come.

Familiar with recordings by Walter (two), Szell, Giulini, Bernstein, Dohnanyi, Gielen, Barbirolli and Karajan, I find this new version by Jonathan Nott and The Bamberg Symphony comparable or surpassing those recordings in interpretation and sound quality. Nott  reveals a consistently coherent view of the 9th from the opening three notes of Andante Comoto through the terminal hushed string phrases of the final Adagio. He takes great risk with extreme dynamics and tempi to achieve the correct dramatic emphasis . Very fine playing is drawn from The Bambergers. The winds bray and crackle with energy. In the final movement the string section does indeed play stets grossen ton, yet  are never strident. They glow throughout the performance.

Tudor’s multichannel SACD recording becomes the ideal vehicle to deliver this magnificent work to the listener. Hall ambience, orchestral placement, depth and balance are magically provided. Only the spontaneity of witnessing the live performance is missing.  I cannot praise this recording highly enough. It presents the majesty of the Mahler 9th with near perfection.

-- Ronald Legum

[John Kim]

In the March/April issue, an ARG (American Record Guide) critic gave a rave review for the Nott/BSO/Tudor M9th SACD. His overall impression was basically the same as mine praising Nott's great attention to details, but also noted that emotional elements are strong in his reading. He gave a high nod for the orchestra and the SACD sound as well.

John,

[John Kim]

Another glowing review:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/18/mahler-jonathan-nott-bamberg

Mahler/Bamberg SO/Nott: Symphony No 9

(Tudor, two SACDs)
5 out of 5

    * Andrew Clements
    *
          o Andrew Clements
          o guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 February 2010 23.45 GMT
          o Article history

Over the last decade as music director of the Bamberg Symphony, Jonathan Nott has steadily raised the international profile of what used to be just another of the decent provincial orchestras ­dotted throughout Germany. Nott and his ever-improving orchestra have formed a partnership with the Swiss label Tudor, releasing a series of Schubert discs, and now they are part way through a Mahler cycle too. The First, Fourth, and Fifth Symphonies have already appeared, but the Ninth provides an even stiffer test of Nott's Mahlerian credentials, one that he passes with flying colours. His reading of the Ninth is not as highly wrought as, say, Rattle's recording, as lushly romantic as Von Karajan's or as ­expressionistic as Abbado's, but it is a remarkably lucid account that ­gradually builds from a notably spacious first movement to a luminously intense ­account of the finale. What seems at first to be a well crafted, intelligently musical performance has, by the end, become something much more remarkable.

[John Kim]

Another one:

http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/t/tdr07162a.php

Symphony #9 in D Major
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra/Jonathan Nott
Tudor 7162 83m Multichannel Hybrid SACD

Mahler's 9th Symphony is one of the giants of the repertoire and here Jonathan Nott is in distinguished company with the Walter's, Karajan's and Rattle's of the past and present.

However, Nott is certainly no slouch and on past evidence of his excellent Mahler recordings of the First, Fourth and Fifth symphonies, I was very much expectant of this Ninth and was definitely not disappointed in any way. He sets just the right tempo for the Andante comodo which is rather reminiscent of Barbirolli's great recording (EMI/Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra 1966) and the SACD sound adds an extra dimension to the orchestral forces at work here which sound quite magical.

The second movement is also winningly done with the Ländler-like music moving along quite smoothly and relaxingly. Here Nott brings out the palpable drama behind the bars in a way which is reminiscent of Walter whose pioneering 1938 account still remains hors concurs, at least to this listener. The Rondo Burleske is perhaps a bit too tame but there's no denying the vehemence and energy behind Nott's energetic reading.

Finally we arrive at the great Adagio and here Nott really rises to the occasion, matching my two favourites who are Karajan and Giulini (both DG) in expansive vision and string ethereality. Yet again the multi channel sound is a revelation with the notes sounding so much more alive and the orchestra really "in the room"so to speak. With extensive and scholarly notes and some lovely artistic presentation, this new Mahler 9 is surely a winner on all counts.

Copyright © 2009, Gerald Fenech