A comprehensive box that's certainly to be considered
B. Guerrero | 11/01/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"If you judge recordings of Mahler symphonies as a "gesamtkunstwerk" of conducting (interpretation), orchestral execution, and recording quality, then I submit that the Gary Bertini/Cologne Radio S. O. cycle - also from EMI, by the way - is the best overall one to date. However, this Rattle box includes his fine Berlin remake of the complete 10th symphony (in the standard Cooke edition), while Bertini recorded just the first movement Adagio (but a truly outstanding one, at that!). Another big difference is in "Das Lied von Erde": Bertini recorded it using a mezzo on the lower vocal part - as most do - while Rattle employed baritone Thomas Hampson. Personally, I greatly prefer that the lower part be sung by a mezzo, and Bertini has a very fine one in Marjana Lipovsek. His tenor, Ben Heppner, is truly first rate as well. Still, there are those who insist that Mahler consistantly prefered men's voices (a debateable point), and certainly Thomas Hampson is as strong a male candidate for "der Abschied" - the concluding half-hour long song - as you'll ever find. Rattle and Sinopoli (DG) are the only ones to include "Das Klagande Lied" - Mahler's relatively, early three movement cantata. That would not be a deal breaker for me, but it is an important and valuble work. What's truly a pity, is that Rattle recorded only the male perspective songs from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" - the most important of his song cycles, as it proved to be the germination of so much wonderful music in his earlier symphonies (and Klaus Tennstedt has argued that the mighty 8th is very much a throw-back to Mahler's earlier, "Wunderhorn" style).
Such is the pity, because Rattle did one of his best conducting jobs on them, while Simon Keenleyside proved to be the ideal baritone. Originally, these songs were tacked on to Rattle's somewhat underestimated 3rd symphony recording (recorded in Birmingham's relatively new Symphony Hall, along with the 8th).
The previous reviewer mentioned the greatness of the Michael Gielen cycle. Perhaps, but it should be noted that Haenssler left off Gielen's highly expressionistic account of the complete 10th symphony, also in the Cooke edition. For my money, the Bertini cycle is even more consistant, and includes that excellent and previously discussed "DLvdE".
Overall, Rattle is interpretively less consistant - he has more peaks and valleys along the way. That said, his peaks can be very high indeed, such his incredibly spooky, "turn on a dime" account of the scherzo from Mahler's "tragic" 6th symphony. Part II from the 8th symphony is another solid highlight, as are the latter movements of the 7th symphony. There's much to admire here. So why only four stars instead of five?
I'm dinging this because of EMI's own shabby treatment of this box. Afterall, it was EMI and the British press who have, for years, touted Rattle as the reincarnation of Furtwaengler, Bernstein, Beecham, Boult; god knows who else - all rolled into one. While the sound quality seems to be slightly improved on some of the symphonies - compared to their original releases - EMI could have waited until most of the cycle had received the fully remastered, "Great Recordings Of The Century" treatment. In addition to that point, you can actually get Rattle's fine Mahler 8th on an excellent sounding, expanded dynamic range DVD release now (sans picture, obviously). In the notes, there is no mention of remastering efforts having been made anywhere. Worse yet, EMI didn't wait to include Rattle's Berlin remake of the 9th symphony, due out next month!!! Surely, that'll prove to be an improvement over his weirdly recorded Vienna 9th - an Austrian Radio broadcast tape, complete with disappointing balance issues. All this said, I will make the point that all of the symphonies and tracks are layed out quite logically. Where symphonies had to be broken up over two discs because of length, intelligent decisions prevailed.
In the end though, this just seems to be something of a rush job. Why? What was the point in doing so? In the best of all possible worlds, I would have waited to record the three standard song cycles (Songs Of A Wayfahrer; Five Ruckert Lieder; Kindertotenlieder), plus a separate studio session to fill in the female perspective songs from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" (then issue all of "DKW" separately, as well). Pending all that, you would have a fully complete "Mahler Edition" including "Blumine", the original second movement from Mahler's earlier versions of the first symphony. Do the EMI Classics people know something that the rest of us don't? Could it be that all of this could just vanish, due to the latest buy-out of EMI? Stay tuned. Either way, you could do worse than this set (Sinopoli, for example)."
Great Mahler From Rattle Despite Its Shortcomings
J. Rich | 10/16/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Simon Rattle is a great Mahlerian. No doubt about it. His accounts here of symphonies 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, and 10 (reconstruction by Deryck Cooke) are among some of the finest I've heard from any conductor. The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is the main orchestra throughout, but this set includes performances from the Berlin Philharmonic (Symphonies 5 and 10) and Vienna Philharmonic (Sym. 9). I have issues with this performance of the 9th symphony, which I will detail later. Like another reviewer, I have also have issues with EMI's quick-to-release decision of this set.
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Here are the details of this box set:
1. Symphony no 1 in D major "Titan": Blumine
2. Symphony no 1 in D major "Titan"
3. Symphony no 1 in D major "Titan"
4. Symphony no 1 in D major "Titan"
5. Symphony no 1 in D major "Titan"
1. Symphony no 3 in D minor
2. Symphony no 3 in D minor
3. Symphony no 3 in D minor
4. Symphony no 3 in D minor
5. Symphony no 3 in D minor
1. Symphony no 3 in D minor
2. Des Knaben Wunderhorn: no 1, Der Schildwache Nachtlied
3. Des Knaben Wunderhorn: no 2, Verlor'ne Müh
4. Des Knaben Wunderhorn: no 4, Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht?
5. Des Knaben Wunderhorn: no 9, Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen
6. Des Knaben Wunderhorn: no 13, Revelge
7. Des Knaben Wunderhorn: no 14, Der Tamboursg'sell
8. Des Knaben Wunderhorn: no 6, Des Antonius von Padua
9. Lieder und Gesänge, vol 3: no 2, Ablösung im Sommer
1. Symphony no 4 in G major
2. Symphony no 4 in G major
3. Symphony no 4 in G major
4. Symphony no 4 in G major
1. Symphony no 5 in C sharp minor
2. Symphony no 5 in C sharp minor
3. Symphony no 5 in C sharp minor
4. Symphony no 5 in C sharp minor
5. Symphony no 5 in C sharp minor
1. Symphony no 7 in E minor
2. Symphony no 7 in E minor
3. Symphony no 7 in E minor
4. Symphony no 7 in E minor
5. Symphony no 7 in E minor
1. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
2. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
3. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
4. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
5. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
6. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
7. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
8. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
9. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
10. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
11. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
12. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
13. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
14. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
15. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
16. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
17. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
18. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
19. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
20. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
21. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
22. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
23. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
24. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
25. Symphony no 8 in E flat major "Symphony of A Thousand"
1. Symphony no 10 in F sharp minor/major
2. Symphony no 10 in F sharp minor/major
3. Symphony no 10 in F sharp minor/major
4. Symphony no 10 in F sharp minor/major
5. Symphony no 10 in F sharp minor/major
1. Symphony no 6 in A minor "Tragic"
2. Symphony no 6 in A minor "Tragic"
3. Symphony no 6 in A minor "Tragic"
1. Symphony no 6 in A minor "Tragic"
2. Symphony no 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
3. Symphony no 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
4. Symphony no 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
1. Symphony no 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
2. Symphony no 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
3. Symphony no 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
4. Symphony no 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
5. Symphony no 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
6. Symphony no 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
7. Symphony no 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
8. Symphony no 2 in C minor "Resurrection"
9. Symphony no 9 in D major
1. Das klagende Lied
2. Das klagende Lied
3. Das klagende Lied
4. Das Lied von der Erde: Der Abschied
1. Das Lied von der Erde
2. Das Lied von der Erde
3. Das Lied von der Erde
4. Das Lied von der Erde
5. Das Lied von der Erde
6. Das Lied von der Erde
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As I said the performances of 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, and 10 are fantastic. I especially love how Rattle goes for the darker overtones in these scores, which is something I don't hear pulled off in the cycles of Bertini, Abbado, Chailly, Kubelik, or Boulez. One reviewer called these interepretations analytical. I think that's a bit of rush to judgement. If anything, I think Rattle is falling into the Tennstedt and Bernstein tradition of bringing out the more brooding elements of the music. If you think festering, brooding, lusting are bad qualities in Mahler's music than you will not like these readings at all. The performance of "Symphony No. 2 - Ressurection" is one of the best I've heard and I own almost every modern performance (late 50s to now) of this symphony.
Now, my first problem with this set is the dreaded performance of "Symphony No. 9" with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. First of all, the audio could have been much better, especially given EMI's higher audio standards. Secondly, the Vienna Philharmonic aren't playing up to their usual standards. I'm not hearing any just ripping or burn-down-the-house playing from these musicians. It obviously was an off-night for them, but come on, I wouldn't have released such a mediocre performance, but it was recorded live and no one knows what is going to happen in that kind of environment.
The second problem I have is with EMI's choice not to include the newly recorded "Symphony No. 9," which is a much better account with the Berliners. Are EMI so greedy that they couldn't wait until Rattle got finished with this symphony to release it? My only suggestion would be to buy the newer release of "Symphony No. 9" to suppliment this set.
Overall, this isn't a bad set and it's certainly better than some of the other cycles I've heard. Beware though, this isn't a first choice Mahler cycle. I would suggest Bertini, Abbado, or Chailly before Rattle's. From this set, get Bernstein's (both accounts on Sony and Deutsche Grammophon) and Tennstedt's (EMI) cycles."
TOP OF THE LIST?
Ryan Morris | Chicago, IL | 10/22/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Rattles Mahler has been one of his finest achievements as a conductor-a marriage begun early in Rattles career with several exceptional recordings with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Over the years, many of those fine recordings went out of the catalogue and became very difficult to find(except the 2,4) while the 5 more recently with the Berlin(both received rave reviews).
Now that this cycle is complete it should move straight to the top of the list. It may not be as good as the Gielen, but considering that it is less than half as expensive(while the Gielen is only a fraction better) it makes this much more valuable.
The third is one of the finest on record-giving ground to only Gielen and maybe Chailley or Bernstein63. The second has long been one of my favourite versions, recently released as part of EMI's Great Recording series. The sixth is also quite exemplary, combining a thrust and passion missing in most recent accounts(ex. Chailley, Abbado, even Gielen,). The ninth is fantastic.
The fifth and eighth are the most recent recordings. The fifth was slightly controversial though very entertaining, though I didnt care much for the eighth, especially considering there seems to be more consistently fine recordings of it than any other mahler symphony.
Considering the low price and the additions of Das Klagende Lied, Das Lied Von der Erde, and Das Knoben, I would have to recommend this as a first choice, though I would not want to be without the Gielen cycle on Hansler and both Bernsteins."
Track Listings (5) - Disc #1