2009 started with a whimper, is ending a boom!

[barry guerrero]

Wow, what a finish to this year! Now I'm going to make a big confession: my "guilty pleasure" Mahler recording for 2009 is the Gerard Schwarz/Seattle M8. I really should not like this as much as I do, as some of the singing isn't the best by a long shot. But the recording is just so "natural" sounding, and I love how Schwarz handles the endings to both parts. Yes, the end of Part II is almost bizarrely fast until Schwarz finally slows down for the very last bit (simultaneous cymbal/tam-tam smashes, followed by ascending jumps of a 9th in the offstage trumpets). But as it weird as it is, it really works - it's even genuinely exciting. And unlike MTT, Schwarz gets adequate results from his pipe organ.

The end of Part I is really good too, as one can easily follow the descending/ascending eighth-note runs in the offstage trumpets and trombones. Good stuff! And because of the great acoustics in Benaroya Hall, the dense double fugue at the heart of Part I sounds excellent.

Perhaps I'm somewhat overreacting because my "biggest disappointment" recording for 2009 is the MTT/SFSO Mahler 8. "Big disappointment" doesn't mean that it's bad; it just means what it says. I was hopeful that MTT would end his S.F. Mahler cycle with a bang; sweeping ALL other M8 recordings right out to sea. Sorry, but just ain't the case.

[John Kim]

Wow, what a finish to this year! Now I'm going to make a big confession: my "guilty pleasure" Mahler recording for 2009 is the Gerard Schwarz/Seattle M8. I really should not like this as much as I do, as some of the singing isn't the best by a long shot. But the recording is just so "natural" sounding, and I love how Schwarz handles the endings to both parts. Yes, the end of Part II is almost bizarrely fast until Schwarz finally slows down for the very last bit (simultaneous cymbal/tam-tam smashes, followed by ascending jumps of a 9th in the offstage trumpets). But as it weird as it is, it really works - it's even genuinely exciting. And unlike MTT, Schwarz gets adequate results from his pipe organ.

The end of Part I is really good too, as one can easily follow the descending/ascending eighth-note runs in the offstage trumpets and trombones. Good stuff! And because of the great acoustics in Benaroya Hall, the dense double fugue at the heart of Part I sounds excellent.

Barry,

Cannot agree with you more.

The ending of Part II. is bizarr but like you said it works and is genuinely exciting that way.

My picks for 2009 are, along with the Schwarz M8th, Schwarz M7th, Nott M9th, and the newly remastered Bernstein/NYPO/Sony Mahler cycle.

But I haven't heard the Jansons/BRSO M7th yet .

John,

[Russell]

I wish I could agree with you about the Schwarz M8, Barry and John, but I just can't abide by the out-of-tune and wobbly solo singing--it just rules it out of the running for me.  (The oddly accented (Russianized Latin/German!) solo singing on Gergiev's M8 also rules his recording out for me as well.)  I do like the Schwarz M8 in other respects, though, especially with his unique tempo contrasts at the end.

Russell

[barry guerrero]

Russell,

I fully understand. As I mentioned, I think of the Schwarz M8 as a "guilty" pleasure. I guess I just sort plug my ears during certain vocal passages. I've always more interested in what the orchestration is doing anyway.

[barry guerrero]

I don't know; I listened again to the Alan Gilbert M9 last night, and I sure think it's awfully good. Yeah, sure; maybe a tempo relationship, here and there, could have been a tiny tad better. But the playing is outstanding, as is the sound quality. I also think the main climaxes to the two outer movements are done very well. Anyway, I like it.

[John Kim]

I don't know; I listened again to the Alan Gilbert M9 last night, and I sure think it's awfully good. Yeah, sure; maybe a tempo relationship, here and there, could have been a tiny tad better. But the playing is outstanding, as is the sound quality. I also think the main climaxes to the two outer movements are done very well. Anyway, I like it.

Barry,

How about the Nott M9th? Did you listen to the entire movements?

John,