Duane ([log in to unmask]) wrote:
>I am interested in exploring the music of Mahler. I have heard a couple of
>his symphony's and have been very impressed. Could someone point me in the
>direction of some of the "must have" interpretations of his symphonys.
Mahler is one of my favorite composers. I've been listening to his
symphonies since I was in high school (I'm 42 now). A couple years ago
I took a chance and bought the 3rd with Jesus Lopez-Cobos conducting the
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (Telarc, 2 CDs for the price of one), and was
pleasantly surprised. More recently, Lopez-Cobos has recorded Mahler's 9th
and 10th Symphonies, which I promptly purchased upon discovering. After
becoming familiar with these recordings, I consider Lopez-Cobos to be
second to none as a Mahler interpreter. The sound is good too, and the
orchestra playing is top notch.
Having said that, here are what I consider to be "must have"
interpretations of his symphonies:
* Any Lopez-Cobs recordings -- He's recorded 3, 9, 10 so far
* 9th with Barbirolli/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI, 1964) -- there are so many
varying interpretations of this work, and somehow this one impresses me as
having found its way through the vast maze of possible intreprations, and
has struck the bull's eye. The recording is somewhat dated, but tastefully
balanced.
I also like Boulez's 6th with the Vienna Philharmonic (DG 1995), but
find some fault in the closeup multi-miking in the recording. You can
take this criticism with a grain of salt, however, because I seem to more
picky about recorded sound than most people (which you may have surmised if
you have been following these discussions closely). Boulez's interpretive
spin on Mahler is unique, and works for me. As revealed in the liner
notes, he approached the Mahler Symphonies from the opposite direction of
most conductors, by first going through Schoenberg, Berg, Webern. His
sensitivity to the neurotic sounds of these "Expressionist" composers
comes through in his Mahler interpretations.
I hope this helps.
Mike
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