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From: greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley)
Newsgroups: net.music.classical
Subject: Re: What about Mahler?
Message-ID: <242@olivej.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 1-Nov-84 17:59:25 EST
Article-I.D.: olivej.242
Posted: Thu Nov  1 17:59:25 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 3-Nov-84 20:41:54 EST
References: <13192@mgweed.UUCP>
Organization: Olivetti ATC, Cupertino, Ca
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I find all of Mahler's music skillfully constructed and revealing of
a sensitivity and delicacy in the use of orchestration that exceed
even that of Richard Strauss.  In the case of Strauss, I find that
for much of his music, particularly the later works, these resources
produce music that is beautifully wrought but empty.  I wouldn't
say this of Mahler, but I would say that there are times when the
music says nothing to me, admitting immediately that this could be
as much my own lack of perceptiveness as any inherent lack in the
music itself.

With that in mind, I find the 1st, 2nd and 4th Symphonies, the
Adagio from the 5th, parts of the 9th Symphony and all of "Das
Lied von der Erde" to be beautiful, moving and expressive.
The 3rd would not be a favorite work, except that the beautiful
contralto solo and the sustained grandeur of the finale make
up for the places where my mind wanders while listening to the
rest of it.  The 5th (except for the Adagio mentioned), 6th,
7th, 8th and most of the 9th Symphonies simply fail to sustain
my interest over what I consider to be their excessive lengths.

Having been originally trained to be a professional singer, I've
had a good bit of experience with the vocal works.  Both as 
performer and listener I've immensely enjoyed the wonderful
"Songs of a Wayfarer", "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" and the exquisite
"Rueckert Lieder".  I've never performed the "Kindertotenlieder"
and, as a parent, find them hard to listen to.

Toscanini once said of Bruno Walter that "when Walter comes
to something beautiful he melts."  I find that this characteristic
became more evident in his recordings as he got older with the
result that his lingering to savour beautiful moments got in
the way of musical line and continuity.  For me, this was
destructive enough to his later Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert
recordings to impair my enjoyment of them.  

The two recordings of his post-WW2 years that I find great,
and not damaged by this slowing down, are the 1957 Mahler
"Resurrection" Symphony and the 1952 "Das Lied von der Erde"
with Ferrier and Patzak (despite the fact that Patzak was
having to struggle with an aging voice).  Also excellent
are the LP tranfers of performances from the late 30's of
the 9th Symphony and an earlier "Das Lied" with Kullman and
Thorberg (which I have on imported EMI).

Whether these are "the best" I find hard to say.  There are
so many superb Mahler recordings which have modern sound in
addition to great interpretations that I can't come to any
definite conclusions.  Among newer recordings I wouldn't
want to be without are the Abbado/Chicago Symphony
"Resurrection" Symphony, James Levine's 3rd Symphony,
the Haitink/Concertgebouw "Das Lied von der Erde" (with
ravishingly beautiful singing by Janet Baker), the 1957
Kletzki/Philharmonia 4th Symphony, and Tennstedt's
recording of the 1st Symphony.  The recordings I've heard
that struck me as definitely inferior have been Mehta's
"Resurrection" and (except for the wonderful finale of
his early-60's 3rd Symphony) the whipped-up, frenzied
performances of Leonard Bernstein.  The rest seem to fall
somewhere in between.

I'd also like to put in a word for Klemperer's Mahler.
Those who are familiar with only his later recordings and
have come to think of his work as leaden, ponderous, and
lacking in animation would be astonished to hear such
things as the English Decca transfer of the 1951
Concertgebouw "Resurrection" recording (with Kathleen
Ferrier).  Likewise excellent are his 1962 studio recording
of the same work (with Schwarzkopf and Rossl-Majdan) and
the "Das Lied von der Erde" with Wunderlich and Ludwig.
The latter is unique in that it actually has a fresh, youthful
sounding tenor whose voice can soar over the breakers without
strain or quality loss.

How do you choose?


	- Greg Paley