Chris Bonds wrote:

>Roger Hecht wrote:
>
>>Most overrated composer.
>>
>>Gustav Mahler.
>
>I'm curious--how would you compare him with Bruckner?

It's interesting this pairing of Mahler and Bruckner as if they were
brothers.  They were very different composers.  I can't think of anyone who
likes both equally.  Usually, if not always, there is a decided preference
for one or the other.  I make no claim to total comprehensiveness, but just
sitting here, I can't think of a conductor who does most of the symphonies
of both equally well, though many have tried.  Generally a conductor is
better at one or the other.  Someone will think of somebody who's equally
adept at both, I guess.

That said, Bruckner is in my pantheon.  He speaks to me in a way Mahler
doesn't quite manage.  And that, I think, is the basic difference between
the two, as far as I can describe it for me without going into all kinds
of pained comparisons.

Roger Hecht