Anybody here listen to Mahler?

I just purchase Mahler 9 on vinyl through Amazon. Leonard Bernstein Berliner Philharmoni excellent recording and pressing. 

Agreed. Just listened to symphony #2.  Resurrection.  Leonard Bernstein with New York Philharmonic Orchestra.  Incredible.

As someone wrote, with each of Zander’s recordings with the Philharmonia Orchestra (on Telarc) there was included a separate disk with lengthy explanations of history, context, his conducting choices, examples of other conductors’ choices, examples, etc. For his Mahler 2 on Linn there was a download. I personally gained a good deal of insight from listening to these.

It seems that these "Discussion Disk" audios are now freely available for Mahler’s Symphonies 1,2,3,5,6,and 9. (4 is not there. He did not record 7 or 8.) They are on the page given and on succeeding ones mixed with other audios.

https://www.benjaminzander.org/audio/

YES! For the past 40+ years!  IMO Mahler is the greatest  symphonic composer!!

Bernstein cycle and Tilson Thomas on Blue Coast.

I, too, didn’t appreciate Mahler right away; it took time. Now, he’s one of my favorite composers. No recording beats a live Mahler performance, but I own 50-60 CD recordings of his symphonies, and his work really benefits from a good audio system.

Probably the most-loved is Mahler’s 2nd, the "Resurrection" symphony. After Beethoven’s 9th and 5th, Mahler’s 2nd is arguably the greatest symphony, thrilling, profound and soul-stirring. There are many good versions; I’d highly recommend Ivan Fischer conducting the Budapest Festival Orchestra on a Channel Classics SACD --a perfectly-judged performance in stellar sound. Leopold Stokowski’s live recording of the Resurrection with the London Symphony Orchestra is in acceptable sound, but the performance will rock your world.

@tuberist ,

I, too, had a hard time with Mahler in the beginning.

My 2 cents:

Start with the First Symphony-Way too many good recordings, so you have no problem finding a good one.

For vocal, I found Das Lied von de Erde, to be an easy listen- and it contains music from the 1st symphony, so you get to hear it in a different setting.

If you are still interested, move onto his other symphonic and vocal works.

Late Mahler is pretty strong stuff (like the Brahms Requiem-IMHO- Well, not that bad😉),

I found the 6th symphony by accident (Horenstein in Stockholm Live, if I recall). It is another ’easy’ listen.

B

Yes, Tilson-Thomas did record a Mahler 8.  I enjoy that series a lot.

Another fairly complete (no 8th) is Michael Tilson Thomas' recording with the SFO in SACD for those who care.  

There sure is an 8th in the series.  

I'm not a knowledgeable Mahler listener, but I am a fan.  He can come over any time. :)

Mahler is my favorite musical artist in any genre. Tunes! Emotions!

If you can tolerate classical vocals, try "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" recorded by soprano Maureen Forrester, bass Heinz Rehfuss and the Vienna Symphony conducted by Felix Prohaska. It'll instantly take you back in time to fantasy Medieval days. Solid sound quality, too.

Mahler's First Symphony inhabits the same magical place. Try Bruno Walter's old recording, in pretty good sound, as well.

The Fourth Symphony is gentle, easy and, again, filled with fine tunes. The final movement is the proverbial child's vision of heaven.

Mahler's Seventh Symphony can get more than a little long in the tooth but the final movement is glorious & friendly.

In any event, Mahler creates complete musical worlds, worlds you find yourself wandering around in.

I love all of Mahler - finding a favorite is like picking your favorite child! :-) 

That said his most compelling FOR ME, not necessarily the easiest to digest, are his 6th, 9th, 7th, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 1st, and 5th. The last movements of the 2d just blows me away! I can bring down the house. Right up there with the big duet in La Boheme. Love the 1st movement of the 8th, not so much the last movement. His 4th is the easiest to digest, along with the 1st for those just coming to Mahler. His 6th and 9th are best appreciated, I think, by those more familiar with his works. His 3rd and 5th are probably some of his more popular. 

Too many versions to have any 'best' recommendations, but for just starting out I find that Benjamin Zander's recordings, which are quite good benefit from the inclusion of a separate disc  in which he discusses the symphony. I find his version of #1 excellent, if for no other reason than the inclusion of Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen by Christopher Maltman. And, I think, from an audio point of view, most all of Zander's recording are well done.

Another fairly complete (no 8th) is Michael Tilson Thomas' recording with the SFO in SACD for those who care. I find his performances in general are middle of the road. I do like his 7th more than others. 

Lastly, when considering selections to be made, I find that many prefer a broad interpretation whereas others, like myself, prefer a more dramatic music, such as you might experience with Bernstein's recordings.

Hope that helps a bit.

I'm just finishing up listening to the Mahler Symphonies done by Leonard Bernstein

Very enjoyable.

Regards,

Dan