Gustav Mahler Mariss Jansons Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra - Gustav Mahler Symphony No2 in C Minor Resurrection (5 tracks) +Album Reviews

A performance which grows in stature.....

06/03/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I read David Hurvitz' review and could not disagree more! This Mahler 2 is a performance which grows in stature with each hearing! The orchestral playing is impeccable. Details which are either hidden or glossed over are given full consideration. Witness the very opening...it takes your breath away! Admittedly this is a difficult work to bring off 100 percent, but Jansons and his forces give of their best and the results are impressive. I was struck particularly by the offstage orchestra in the fourth movement...so distant, and yet so full of atmosphere. On many recordings, this is played in the orchestra (albeit muted) and the effect is for naught! Kudos to Mariss Jansons for being true to Mahler's directions. The last movement is very well paced, and the final chorus brings one to one's feet as Mahler wished! Very well done indeed!"

Jansons with an wise approach to Mahler

Mats Andre Halvorsen | Oslo | 11/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In my view people who criticise this performance do not really understand Mariss Jansons way of conducting. Jansons philosophy as a conductor is to try to present the work as the notes speak to him. From him there is no personal ambitons to try to interpret the work acording to according to his subjective mind. In other words: the music speaks by itself and there is no reason for the conductor to tamper with it. I think there is no composer this works so well with than Gustav Mahler. Mahlers symphonic works are gigantic, his thems are enormous and sometimes chaotic, his music often ends with big climaxes, and there is a use of a lots of different instruments. Jansons in this recording lets the second symohony walk on its own feet, as a conductor he tries only to ensure the that the symphony is played correctly according to Mahlers notes. With the aid of the highly skilled Oslo Philarmonic Orchestra it becomes a seldom recorded Mahler symphony where there is possible to sit back and try to understand more of Mahlers and not of the conductor's musical thoughts.Bravo !"

Don't listen to Hurwitz

emmkay | Illinois | 03/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I disagree with Hurwitz, who seems jaded and prejudiced by certain recordings that are considered part of the stereophile 'canon'. Unlike Mehta, Bernstein and Klemperer, who all take considerable liberties with the score with sometimes dubious purpose, Jansons' interpretation is rather uncorrupted without ever sacrificing emotional drive and logic. True, the Oslo Philharmonic does not play quite at the level of, say, the Chicago Symphony or the LSO (with Solti), or the Berlin Philharmonic or the Concertgebouw (with Haitink). Nonethelss, it is truly amazing what gorgeous orchestral colors Jansons elicits from this orchestra. Having recently been appointed to the helm of both the Bavarian Radio Symphony and the Royal Concertgebouw--both orchestras with a considerable Mahler heritage and experience--this recording lets us hope that in the not too distant future we will hear even finer accounts of this symphony from the hands of this extraordinarily gifted conductor."

A "Very Special" Resurrection Indeed

Allegro von Troppo | Austin, TX United States | 07/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am usually in agreement with David Hurwitz, or can at least understand his viewpoint, but his dismissal of Mariss Jansons' recording of Mahler's Second Symphony as "nothing special" is so off the mark, so flat wrong, that I felt compelled to add my sentiments to those of the other reviewers who are in disagreement with him. I have heard recordings of this work by such revered Mahler conductors as Klemperer, Walter, Mehta, Rattle, Abaddo (Chicago), Haitink, Solti, and Bernstein, to name only some. While they all have something to say in this monumental symphony, I find that there is something essential lacking in each of them. In the case of some (Klemperer, Rattle, Abaddo) there is not enough throat clutching intensity at the very beginning of the first movement. No one is as intense here as Solti, who many might understandably feel goes too far. Jansons, however, strikes a perfect balance between Solti's melodrama and the opposing qualities that this music demands. Make no mistake, Jansons delivers all the suspense and terror the score requires when that's what's called for. But where Jansons scores over Solti and all others in this Symphony is in his ability to shift gears, to go from extreme vehemence to extreme tenderness without descending to either vulgarity or sentimentality, and without cheapening the music by speeding up too much during the moments of high drama, or slowing down too much in its quiet, lyrical passages (Bernstein). In the second movement's waltz-like opening, Jansons is one of the few conductors to phrase it with the kind of care and lilt one hears only from a true master of waltz. Stowkoski is the only other conductor I have heard who comes close to Jansons' care in sculpting the Symphony's heart-breaking ländler-like themes and its moments of quiet lyricism. The singing by Felicity Lott and Jula Hamari in the Urlicht and in the final movement is ravishingly beautiful, and playing of the Oslo Philharmonic is inspired throughout. There is one caveat, however: as another reviewer noted, there is very noticeable breakup in the sound at the very conclusion. This is true of the original recording, and the reissued, mid-price CD set, which to my astonishment the Chandos company did not correct. I always find it curious when reviewers like David Hurwitz, and those of the Penguin Guide, or Gramophone, fail to mention this one, true defect in Jansons' recording. One wonders if they were just inattentive at the very conclusion, or throughout all five movements."

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