Tony Duggan ([log in to unmask]) wrote: >Allan Kohrman wrote: > >>The Mahler 4th by George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, with Judith >>Raskin as soprano soloist, is, in my judgment, the greatest Mahler >>recording ever made. > >It's among the best but there's a mite too much calculation about it. It's >an example of what I call "controlled risk" conducting. I suppose that's >a variation on the old canard about Szell even rehearsing the >inspiration. Several of the ex-patriate European conductors (Reiner, Szell et al) were reckoned to 'loosen up' when conducting back in Europe. I heard Szell conduct Mahler 6 in London in 1970 and it was superb - much better, as far as one can tell from mere memory than his live recording in Cleveland. Deryk Barker [log in to unmask]