Hey, is anyone interested in reviving this thread? There have been an awful lot of Mahler recordings released since it petered out and I haven’t heard most of them.
I used to be enthusiastic about the MTT/SFSO cycle, but as I have upgraded my system, I am now more air of its sonic limitations. The Hall is pretty dead and airless.
The reissue of Bernstein first cycle is a revelation. Some of those records sounded so bad, particularly the Seventh. I read that the producer of those recordings mixed them with the thought that people would be listening to them on AM Car Radio. Ugh.
The as yet incomplete Vanska cycle sounds great as High Res download, but the performances are execrable. Otoh the Honeck M5 is superb sounding and moving.
Ivan Fisher Budapest cycle on Channel Classic Is the best sonic Mahler cycle
that I have heard, but as I mentioned at the top, there is a lot that I haven’t heard out there. His brother with the Düsseldorf band lags far behind, imo.
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I haven’t heard Gergiev in Mahler, but I really dislike the sonics on all of the LSO Live recordings with which I am familiar. There is only so much that can be done with that Dead Concert Hall, the Garbage Can. Let’s hope that Simon Rattle succeeds in getting a new Hall built.
I really like the Berlioz that I have heard from Xavier Roth with his period group.
Tennstedt Mahler is something that I have never quite developed a love for. I do have his Fourth, with Lucia Popp as the soloist, but while I’ve had some people praise his live performances to the skies, for me he sounds sternly Teutonic without the leavening Irony or sufficient Viennese Gemutlich. |
Regarding Fisher and Budapest, I heard them in concert here this year on tour. Their Channel Classics recordings strike me as being faithful at capturing their sonority. They have a lean, finely chiseled sound. Their woodwinds have great character. The brass is finely tuned. The CSO brass would undoubtedly blow them halfway to Milwaukee if they had a shootout, but the Budapesters aren’t trying to win a testosterone war. The Orchestra that they remind me the most of is the Czech Philharmonic, but the Budapest has a bit more heft in the strings. |
I think we are spoiled for choice in Mahler. The greatest Orchestras —in no particular order, the Berliner Philharmoniker (the fashionable way to refer to that ensemble), Vienna Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Chicago Symphony)—have all recorded multiple Mahler cycles. The Cleveland, London Symphony, Philharmonia have all had significant Mahler recorded histories. The New York Philharmonic cycles with Bernstein (I am more familiar with the sixties cycle) and the London Philharmonic live recordings with Tennstedt represent two cycles with excellent ensembles /Conductor combos with particular Mahler affinities.
As I alluded to in my first post, lately there has been an explosion of Mahler recordings, many with Orchestras that perhaps aren’t thought of conventionally as ready for prime time. Witness Fisher brother #2 and his hardworking Dusseldorfers. I haven’t heard many of these although the reviews are excellent. |
Regarding Haitink/CSO, I live in Chicago and was present at some of the concerts from which the aforementioned recordings were made. My favorite Haitink/CSO Mahler concert was the First, and for some reason I never acquired the recording that was issued, because I don’t think it could match the experience of that night.
I was a bit disappointed with the recording of the Third, which as I foreshadowed above, dulled the memory of a fine evening in the Hall. To me the sound of the recording is a bit dry in places, and not consistent with my aural memory of the evening. Curiously I don’t feel that way about the Haitink/CSO Sixth, but otoh the Sixth doesn’t really play to Haitink’s strengths (his Amsterdam recording is relatively blah, but his Amsterdam cycle on BluRay is a sonic treat). |
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Sorry, hit the wrong button above.
I am not just an audiophile. Most of my favorite recordings, of Mahler or any other Composer, would not win audiophile awards. However, this is an audiophile site, and I would like to get feedback on what people think are the best sounding recordings. I post in a few Classical Music sites, where audiophiles are routinely ridiculed as we are elsewhere. So here I would like to indulge my love of sound and not be censored for it.
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I think that you are being hard on the Budapest Festival Orchestra. I am not claiming that it can equal Chicago or Vienna , etc.,for lung power, and I thought I made that pretty clear. What they have done, however, remarkably well, is create a MittelEuropa type of sound, that may have been what the finest Orchestras that weren’t Berlin or Vienna may have sounded like in Mahler’s day (and let’s not forget that GM worked quite a bit in the Hungarian Capital).
If you wish to limit your listening to “how the very top Orchestras perform these works” be my guest. To imply that the Budapest is some kind of semi pro outfit that is out of their depth, however, is engaging in hyperbole. I agree that the Fisher /Budapest Ninth isn’t competitive, as a performance with the very best, nor have I heard any Mahler recording by them that displaces any of my favorites.
This isn’t because the Budapest cycle is bad, but because the bar is so incredibly high. Look how many Mahler recordings are out there! Most of the greatest Conductors of the last 50 years are represented, along with quite a few “Who?” What the Channel Classic recordings, are, however, are the most realistic reproduction of how the actual Orchestra sounds that I am personally familiar with. They represent a fine Orchestra faithfully reproduced. The performances are at worst passable.
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@edgewear
Of course no one is restricted to just one cycle, and not every conductor has an equal affinity for each piece. So here goes.
#1 Horenstein/LSO
#2 Abbado/Chicago
#3-Bernstein/NYP first recording. Abbado/Lucerne
#4-Szell
#5-Honeck/Pittsburgh or Walter/NYP (mono)
#6-Karajan/BPO. #7 Bernstein/NY Phil (Sony)
#8 Solti
#9 Karel Ancerl/Czech PO
Das Lied-Reiner or Walter (stereo)
#10. Without getting into the question of which edition—Dausgaard/Seattle
I like your choices, all of which I have in my collection, except the Mehta (had it on vinyl but sold off my analog rig a few years ago).
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I mentioned in my first post in this thread that I hadn’t sampled to many of the newer Mahler recordings as was therefore interested in some suggestions. The Budapest cycle is the relative new comer for me, along with the other Fisher brother. I have the Boulez/Cleveland Seventh, but haven’t played it in a dogs age. Maybe time for a spin. Abbado/Lucerne or Chicago or or MTT are the other Sevenths that I reach for. |
I never heard any Blomstedt Mahler; I just assumed it wasn’t in his repertoire |
I am listening to the Blomstedt Ninth on Qobuz now so it must be available?
Just finished III; so far it’s excellent |
I had ordered Fisher/Budapest M1 and I have to concur with the naysayers here. It’s nicely played but in a ridiculously crowded field it doesn’t offer much that is new. |
Jim 204
I assume that you mean Ivan Fischer and Budapest. I like their Fourthand I’ve been comparing it with the Blu Ray of Ivan Fischer leading the Concertgebouw. They are very similar
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Yeah, their Fourth is a keeper. Started listening to their Sixth today but haven’t formed an opinion yet |
More Budapest...I auditioned the Sixth. It’s Andante-Scherzo, which I don’t like but can correct with a touch of the remote. And there is some great playing here, particularly strings in the Alma theme and elsewhere. However, I am starting to concur with Mayor Adam..they sound like they don’t have the cahones to complete with the big boys in this, Mahler’s most ferocious conception. They are a relatively small band at around seventy players, and I think that they should have augmented themselves to compete with the likes of Chicago, Berlin, Vienna, etc
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lowrider
I really respect Jansons (R.I.P.) as a builder and maintaner of terrific Orchestras, namely the Concertgebouw and the Bavarians. However I don’t care for his Mahler. Sonically, agreed, wonderful stuff. My issues is that he reminds me of a dog walker that needs to arrive at a destination but is delayed by his dog sniffing everything along the path. He tends to beautify the micro moments and loses the structure. His Bruckner is a bigger mess for that reason
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I just came across the Zinfandel/Zurich Tonhalle Seventh on SACD from a resale shop. Sonically, this superb. Sorry that this wasn’t on my radar before.
The Paavo Jarvi cycle with his Frankfurt Orchestra on Blu Ray is superb in surround sound. Great performances as well. I disagree with some of the interpretations, particularly the Fourth, but they are always interesting
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