Mahler
ELLIOTT Tracey
I would just like to send a big thank you to all of you, and
there were lots of you, who replied to my original posting about
Mahler recordings.
I printed out all your replies and collated them. It was quite
interesting that you pretty well all agreed on how you felt about
Mahlers various works. I am particularly grateful for the recommendations
I received about various conductors, orchestras and recordings.
Unfortunately a lot of music stores here only have budget priced classical
CD's, so I have had to shop around a lot to find some of those that were
recommended.
I have found a copy of Kaplan and LSO performing the 2nd symphony and I
think it is stunning, so very emotional. I am looking forward to acquiring many more Mahler CD's.
Again thanks so much to you all.
Tracey
t...@dar.csiro.au
Michael Siemon
>I would just like to send a big thank you to all of you, and
>there were lots of you, who replied to my original posting about
>Mahler recordings.
I'd like to add a postscript to this thread. I found Mahler very hard
to appreciate for many years (I still think the 8th is one of the most
boring pieces this side of Bruckner.) Extravagant, apocalyptic movements
generally motivate me to turn off the record. I started out with the
1st symphony (using the _Gesellen_ songs as a pony) -- and usually raced
to the controls as the finale started. The 4th was easier to take --
no need to worry about the last movement, as it was basically pointless
but not obnoxious.
I first began to think there was some *there* there in the _Nachtmusik_
sections of the 7th (this was in the old Abravanel version on Vanguard),
but by that time my relfex of turning off the "climax" was well-ingrained.
I think the turnaround in my attitude came with hearing Ferrier in _das
Lied von der Erde_. Suddenly, I *wanted* to squeeze every last drop of
_angst_ out of this stuff -- I had a 20-year earlier remembrance of the
piece (a recording by Walter for CBS in the late 50s?) in which the only
thing that stuck in my mind was the _Pavilion aus gruener und aus wesser
Porzelan_. WIth Ferrier, I began to think that I should hear Mahler
_ewig, ewig, ewig_. Recommendations in this group (notably of Abbado
in the 6th and Horenstein esp. in the 3rd) finally hooked me.
What one has to deal with in Mahler is a chamber music sensibility that
emerges in the *oddest* contexts. _Das Lied_ is one, as are a number of
the other song settings; my personal suggested route through the works,
for one with similar tastes (say, Brahms, Schubert, Binchois :-)) would
be:
Symphonies #6, #5, #4, #3 (yes -- in that order)
the Ruckert lieder, possible the _Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen_
Symphony #7, _Das Lied von der Erde_, Symphony #9
If any of that moves you, explore the rest of the works _ad libitum_
--
Michael L. Siemon "Will you serve God with words of fraud?
m...@panix.com For His sake speak deceit?
Him do a favor? Play advocate to God!
What if He searches you through?" Job 13:7-9
Jim Clow
>
>What one has to deal with in Mahler is a chamber music sensibility that
>emerges in the *oddest* contexts. _Das Lied_ is one, as are a number of
>the other song settings; my personal suggested route through the works,
>for one with similar tastes (say, Brahms, Schubert, Binchois :-)) would
>be:
>
> Symphonies #6, #5, #4, #3 (yes -- in that order)
>
> the Ruckert lieder, possible the _Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen_
>
> Symphony #7, _Das Lied von der Erde_, Symphony #9
>
>If any of that moves you, explore the rest of the works _ad libitum_
>
>--
>Michael L. Siemon "Will you serve God with words of fraud?
>m...@panix.com For His sake speak deceit?
> Him do a favor? Play advocate to God!
> What if He searches you through?" Job 13:7-9
Re: ...fahrenden Gesellen, it's easy enough to emphasize with Mahler's
state of mind when he wrote these poems, and the music he wrote for them
is splendid. But I do wish he had found someone to rewrite the text
before publishing. That text almost ruins the work for me.
Jim Clow
Jim Clow
>In article <31k7v0$1...@panix2.panix.com> m...@panix.com (Michael Siemon) writes:
>>
>>What one has to deal with in Mahler is a chamber music sensibility that
>>emerges in the *oddest* contexts. _Das Lied_ is one, as are a number of
>>the other song settings; my personal suggested route through the works,
>>for one with similar tastes (say, Brahms, Schubert, Binchois :-)) would
>>be:
>>
>> Symphonies #6, #5, #4, #3 (yes -- in that order)
>>
>> the Ruckert lieder, possible the _Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen_
>>
>> Symphony #7, _Das Lied von der Erde_, Symphony #9
>>
>>If any of that moves you, explore the rest of the works _ad libitum_
>>
>>--
>>Michael L. Siemon "Will you serve God with words of fraud?
>>m...@panix.com For His sake speak deceit?
>> Him do a favor? Play advocate to God!
>> What if He searches you through?" Job 13:7-9
>
>Re: ...fahrenden Gesellen, it's easy enough to emphasize with Mahler's
I meant empathize.
Jim Clow