Laura E. from CHICAGO, IL Reviewed on 8/29/2009...
Not intended as a review, just background info, since the UPC number doesn't generate much: This is the Mahler Symphony No. 8, with the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Vocal soloists are tenor Anthony Dean Griffey, soprano Erin Wall, bass James Morris, among others. Released on the orchestra's own label.
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CD Reviews
The New Standard
Dr. Debra Jan Bibel | Oakland, CA USA | 08/27/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Mahler's 8th Symphony, incorporating the Faust story, is an unwieldy monster, notorious for it massive body of instrumentalists, three choruses, and eight soloists. This album is the third attempt over three years of Mahler's 8th Symphony by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. I was in the audience for the first two, which were first awful and the following year reasonably good. But the old principle of threes is fulfilled yet again, for this rendition of November 2008 at last is excellent and worthy to be presented to the vast public by CD album. My gold standard has been the Solti recording, analogue LP and digital mastering, and MTT & the SFS matches it in exuberance and excitement and excels by its modern surround sound engineering. This majestic recording truly sounds live and being in Davies Symphony Hall, perhaps sitting in the dress circle. The soloists are heard distinctly and their performances are very fine, with especially fine singing by tenor Anthony Dean Griffey and soprano Elza van den Heever. Even the children's choruses are crystal clear and no shrillness, the bane of old recordings, is present. Tilson Thomas completes the Mahler symphony cycle with the Adagio of unfinished Symphony 10, which was recorded two years earlier. I now have a new standard for Mahler's Eighth. Yes, it is that good."
At last
Scott G. Blair | 08/29/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have waited along time for this. Mahler's 8th has always been my least favorite of all of his symphonies, and not necessarily because it is a bad symphony, but rather because it is a large and unwieldy symphony that even the best of symphonies, choruses, and conductors struggle with. MTT & SFS are no different, they have struggled with this symphony for years, but through persistence and perseverance they have given us yet another great interpretation and performance of a Mahler Symphony. This really is the most beautiful rendition of Mahler's 8th that I have ever heard, and now I can can finally see that Mahler's 8th rivals the complexity and beauty of all of his other Symphonies."
The last of Tilson Thomas's Mahler cycle is a triumph
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 01/02/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Since he enjoys a host of adoring fans in San Francisco -- a perfect match of conductor and community -- MTT has nothing to fear from criticism. Not that he gets much. His Mahler cycle has won more acclaim than I could muster, although the Fifth and Seventh were both high points, and the Das Lied bids fair to be one of the leading versions with two male soloists. Like Boulez, He has chosen to cap his cycle with the Eighth, arguably the most difficult of Mahler's symphonies to bring off, in no small part because so many components -- orchestra, chorus, organ, multiple soloists, children's chrus -- are cruelly exposed and must rise to the same high level. It rarely happens that way.
The Adagio of the unfinished Tenth Sym. serves as a filler, and to my surprise, MTT plays it with great conviction and involvement. You won't mistake the San Francisco strings and horns for the Vienna Phil, but here that matters little. The conductor galvanizes them to a unified purpose. My chief complaint against MTT's Mahler is that he is too dapper, but here there is urgency and grit in the playing. The recorded sound is marvelous in its clarity and naturalness, a hallmark of the whole cycle. (I listened in two-channel Stereo.) The only thing missing is that last ounce of tragic devastation as delivered by Bernstein and Tennstedt, for example. But the variety of mood that MTT extracts from the score is remarkable.
The thunderous organ chord that ignites the Veni Creator spiritus of the Eighth is recorded with real splendor, and the choral entrance hard on its heels is equally clear. We are in another world from every predecessor I've heard. The balance between soloists and orchestra is also natural, even though we know that it takes multi-miking to draw the solo voices tis close. MTT approaches this movement with more flexibility, variety, and nuance than one usually hears. Only Boulez comes close, the norm being Solti's crunching power and headlong drive. By encouraging his soloists not to scream, Tilson Thomas gives them room to expression and tonal blending -- very nicely done. I found myself engrossed from beginning to end in this movement.
Part II, the extended Faust setting, is notoriously difficult to pull off. It really requires an opera conductor's instincts, which is why Gergiev and Chailly are notably successful in this section. At the outset MTT is rather prosaic, and one's admiration mostly goes to the recorded sound, which moment after moment sets a new standard in the Eighth. There's a lack of atmosphere here that misses Mahler's other-worldly scene painting. The big horn entry and frenzied string interlude right the ship, happily. (Mahler here foretells the desperate yearning of the Tenth's Adagio.) The whispered choral entry is rather wooden; one gets the feeling that they are singing German on cautious syllable at a time. The good news is that the chorus sings in tune with nice unanimity, of not the greatest power. We aren't remotely in Mahler's visionary world of countless teeming voices. Indeed, I've never encountered so modest a sound in this work. Clearly the conductor wanted maximum clarity, and he gets it.
The vocal soloists form a strong band, with good voices and considerable dramatic conviction. James Morris's commanding bass is no longer steady, but he throws himself into his role passionately and carries the day. Griffey lacks heroic heft in his tenor, but he sings with rapt sensitivity and is quite moving. The women re fresh-sounding and secure. Even better than Chailly and Gergiev, MTT finds dramatic contrast and variety in every episode of Goethe's extended apotheosis. Frankly, I've never heard a more convincing account of this music, which however high-minded on Mahler's part, often comes off as rather a trudge, but not here. This is an Eighth for doubters, and it should also delight anyone who, like me, thought that there wasn't much new to say in this monumental, problematic score. Like Boulez, Tilson Thomas ends his Mahler journey with an inspired capstone.
As a final note, here are the vocal soloists: Erin Wall (sop); Elza van den Heever (sop); Laura Claycomb (sop); Katarina Karnéus (mez); Yvonne Naef (mez); Anthony Dean Griffey (ten); Quinn Kelsey (bar); James Morris (bbar"
Mahler Symphony #8, Thomas
Robert B. Vincelette Jr. | 01/07/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It has a very refined beginning and gathers momentum over the course of the first movement. The second "Veni Creator Spiritus" is not speeded up as it is on so many other recordings of this work and that gives it more power. Too many other conductors play this part too fast creating the impression of tip toe running over it. Haitink and Bernstein make this second "Veni Creator Spiritus" go off explosively by slowing it down and making sound more massive.
The second movement is done with great refinement and emotion."
Track Listings (5) - Disc #1
Laura E. from CHICAGO, IL 
