From: dbarker@camins.camosun.bc.ca
Subject: Mahler on disc
Organization: Camosun College
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 21:02:57 GMT

In article <1992Apr14.225137.9418@tellab5.tellabs.com>, lampson@tellabs.com (Dave Lampson) writes:
> In article <1992Apr12.151917.1@camins.camosun.bc.ca> you write:
>>For anyone who is interested I have made avaalable for anonymous FTP the text
>>of an article I wrote surveying many available Mahler recordings.[...]
>>
>>The article (which is about 40K, so I am not posting it here) [...]
> 
> 
> I would like to encourage you to post this article to the newsgroup.  40K
> is definitely not too large for a general distribution.  Another factor is 
> that the majority of NetNews readers are not directly tied to Internet 
> (mostly through Uunet), and thus can't access FTP.  I'm one of those people,
> so I'd appreciate seeing it in the newsgroup, or alternatively, please mail 
> me a copy.


OK - you asked for it: 40K follows.

Deryk Barker
Computer Science Dept.
Camosun College,
Victoria, BC
Canada
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      "MY TIME IS YET TO COME"
                        THE SYMPHONIES OF
                          GUSTAV MAHLER
                            ON RECORD.
                               by
                           Deryk Barker.

I am a child of the '60s. Apart from the fact that I'll never
see 25 again (I suppose the grey in the beard is a
bit of a giveaway); have a residual fondness for Bob Dylan, the
Beatles and the Grateful Dead; and a tendency to say "far out
man" if I am not careful; what this means is that I was part of
the generation that grew up during the great Mahler revolution.

Several reasons have been put forward as to why it took so long
for the music of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) to be appreciated.
The advent of stereophonic recordings was obviously a factor -
especially true of the massive choral symphonies, nos. 2 & 8;
the centenary of Mahler's birth in 1960 was another, as was the
performance of the Adagietto from the fifth symphony at JFK's
funeral (yes I can remember where I was when I heard
the news) was another.  Some devotees of the late Leonard
Bernstein have even suggested that it took a conductor of his
persuasive advocacy to convince people of the worth of the
music; but this ignores, unfairly I believe, the sterling
efforts of the previous generation of Mahler conductors (Walter,
Klemperer, Horenstein, Mitropolous) who had spent so long as
lone voices crying in the wilderness.

I believe that it was only the coming of age of the post-World
War II generation, who had grown up under the everyday threat of
extinction, that the music really had a chance for general
popularity. I do not use the word lightly, for today Mahler is
big box-office: the opening of a new concert hall will probably
be celebrated by a performance of the 'Resurrection' symphony,
Mahler concerts invariably sell out, a conductor today is more
likely to begin a recorded cycle of Mahler symphonies than of
Beethoven.

What all this means, of course, is that once again, the average
record buyer needs some guidance amidst a plethora of different
recordings. Don't despair, help is at hand.

As the  complete cycle of Mahler symphonic recordings I have
been playing on my Thursday morning show (10 a.m. - what do you
mean you haven't been listening?? see me at recess) is now
nearing its close this seems like an appropriate time for a
survey of available (and some not available) recordings.  A
number of the performances discussed below have figured in this
series, so you don't have to take my word for their excellence.

It has been suggested that there are four composers beyond
criticism, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and your own particular
favourite. I realised a few years ago, when idly counting
through my record collection, that Mahler must count as my
favourite. Apart from Beethoven, I possess more records of
Mahler than of any other composer. Most of them, thankfully, are
good; very few of them are downright bad, but then again not
many of them are great either.

Here then is Deryk's guide to the Mahler symphonies on record.

Symphony No. 1

"I marvelled at the singular courage of the unknown composer....
and ardently desired to know the man responsible for so
extravagant a work." (Bruno Walter, recalling his first hearing
of Mahler's first symphony, in June 1894, at the age of 18.)

    This symphony seems to be very lucky on record and there are
at least half a dozen recordings that can safely be recommended.
My absolute favourite, though, of the 17 or so versions I
possess is also one of the cheapest: it's by the Bavarian Radio
Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rafael Kubelik (DG). Not only
does it cost well under $10 it also, unusually, comes with a
coupling, the "Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen" (Songs of a
Wayfarer) cycle sung by the great Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. 
This is an appropriate coupling, as the song-cycle (Mahler's
earliest) provides thematic material for the symphony.  This CD
does not enjoy the very finest recording, it does date from
1968, and the orchestra doesn't quite rank with the very best
(the trumpets, for example, sound a little thin), but the
performance makes up for all that. As an example, listen to the
way the strings in the final movement coda (about a minute
before the end) just bounce out of the speakers at you. This is
an effect that once heard spoils you for any other performance
because you're always listening for it.  An essential recording,
this one featured on my programme on January 31st. 

For those who insist on a digital recording (shame on you!) then
look no further than the second Bernstein (DG) with the Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra. This, for me, ranks a close second to
the Kubelik, and is also now available, as part of the Leonard
Bernstein Edition, at around $10; the final chord has even more
of an impact than usual thanks to the extra thwack from the bass
drum - not in the score but presumably sanctioned by the
conductor.

Also recommended: the 1964 LSO/Solti (Decca/London) (most
definitely NOT the later CSO remake which seems to lack any
magic), is now available at mid-price, the recording is fine and
the playing is superb; the 1970 LSO/Horenstein (Unicorn) - we
shall be discussing this conductor in greater depth later; and I
cannot leave this symphony without mentioning the 1961 Columbia
Symphony recording conducted by Bruno Walter, Mahler's friend,
confidante and protege. Walter first heard this music, conducted
by the composer, some 70 years before he made this record: a
valuable document indeed (CBS/Sony), this is now available at
mid-price in a 2-CD set coupled with his equally important
recording of the second (see below).

Incidentally, there are known to have been 3 different revisions
of this symphony made by the composer, in 1888, 1893 and 1899.
The first two both had an extra movement ('Blumine' - placed
second) which was dropped from the final version.  This movement
was not performed again in public until 1968, but it has seen
its way into a few recordings since then.  This is not really
fair, as the  revision of 1899 changed the orchestration
significantly, and so a recording, like Ozawa's, Fischer's or
Mehta's, consisting of the 1899 version plus 'Blumine' doesn't
represent any stage of Mahler's development of this symphony at
all.  I have even seen a Hungarian recording (I suspect it's the
Fischer on Hungaroton) of this combination describing itself as
the 1888 version - this is absolutely untrue, as the 1888
version (if, indeed, it is still extant) has never been
recorded. The new Mehta version also, rather disingenuously,
describes itself as Symphony No. 1 (1888).

There was one recording of the 1893 version, including
'Blumine', by the NPO under Wyn Morris. This was only available
on LP and has been out of the catalogue for some years. It was a
good, if not great, performance and a fascinating document of
Mahler's earliest skill with the orchestra: even the earlier
works which we still have (the Wayfarer cycle and 'Das Klagende
Lied') only exist in later revisions.  The Morris recording
should be reissued on CD asap.


Symphony No. 2, 'Resurrection'.

"The earth quakes, the graves burst open, the dead arise and
stream on in endless procession..... The trumpets of the
apocalypse ring out... And behold, it is no judgement.... There
is no punishment and no reward. An overwhelming love illuminates
our being. We know and are." (From Mahler's 1894
description of the symphony.)

This was Mahler's first blockbuster, a five-movement 80-minute
emotional roller-coaster guaranteed to tear your heart out. This
music is surely what the CD was invented for, can there be
anyone who does not respond to it?

My prime recommendation is for Simon Rattle's inspired 1986
version (EMI) with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. I
first heard the conclusion of this coming over my tinny car
radio and even then it brought a lump to the throat; it confirms
Rattle, even more so than his recording of the 10th (see below),
as potentially one of the great Mahler conductors.  The
recording is splendid, you can really hear the organ
in the closing pages, and the CBSO play as if their lives
depended on it: an obvious first choice.

One problem with the symphony, as with the eighth, is that the
closing passage is played by the orchestra alone, after the
choir have stopped singing. In the concert hall this rarely
seems to be a problem, but on record it can be anticlimactic:
for this reason, if for no other, I cannot recommend the
recordings by Solti (either of the 2), Abbado or Sinopoli.
Gilbert Kaplan's version, while cheap and brilliantly (if a
little clinically) recorded is a remarkable achievement for an
amateur  but doesn't really match the incandescence required by
the music. Kaplan explains in one of the two accompanying
90-some (!) page booklets how he has examined vast quantities of
contemporary material in order to arrive at as close an
approximation as possible to the way Mahler himself would have
conducted the work. Personally I don't think he's succeeded;
there is considerable evidence (including the piano rolls Mahler
himself made of the last movement of the fourth and first
movement of the fifth symphonies) to suggest that Mahler's
conducting style would seem much more eccentric beside the
acceptable late twentieth norms. More on this later.

Other recommendations go to: Klemperer's gritty 1963 recording
(EMI) now remastered on to a single 79-minute CD, a real bargain
- Klemperer's very first conducting assignment was directing the
offstage brass in a performance conducted by Mahler himself;
Stokowski's 1973 recording (RCA) (if this is not yet available
on CD then it should be), Stokey was, almost unbelievably, in
his 90s when he made this; and, of course, Bruno Walter's
historic 1958 recording (CBS/Sony).  Walter attended the very
first performance, conducted by the composer, in 1895.  The
recording, while not up to the very latest, is still remarkably
good for its age.

The Klemperer recording was featured on February 7th.


Symphony No. 3

"No use looking up there (at the mountains surrounding
Steinbach-am- Attersee).  That's all been composed by me!"
(Mahler to Bruno Walter, July 1896.)

For some time this has featured in the Guinness Book of Records
as the world's longest regularly-programmed symphony. A
six-movement monster, the movements once had titles such as "Pan
awakes - summer marches In" and "What the flowers in the meadow
tell me" (hard to see Mahler as a prototypical hippie!) - the
originally intended seventh movement achieved a life of its own
and became the fourth symphony!) - it can easily become a less
than fascinating experience on record. 

By far the best version I have ever heard is the 1970
LSO/Horenstein (Unicorn). Jascha Horenstein was one of the
twentieth century's great unsung conductors. His recorded legacy
is pitifully small and much of it, especially from the 50s, was
made with 2nd-rate (or worse) orchestras.  Only toward the end
of his life did he get the chance to record with the finest
ensembles, but with what effect! This was the version I played
on February 14th.

If you must have a more modern recording then Tennstedt (EMI),
although I suspect that this may have been deleted, is fine, as
is Inbal (Denon) - both of these are digital recordings.


Symphony No. 4

"There are no fortissimi in my fourth symphony." (Mahler) 

Mahler's simplest symphony - well shortest anyway. This and the
first are the only two that come in under an hour; the finale is
a setting of a song from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Youth's Magic
Horn) a book of German folk poems which cast a great spell over
Mahler: the fourth movement (Uhrlicht) from the Resurrection and
the fifth movement from the third symphony also use Wunderhorn
texts.  In this case the setting is of a child's view of heaven,
and very angelic it sounds too - providing you don't actually
read the translation! In fact the child, obviously from a poor
home, seems to think that the main point of heaven is that (s)he
will finally get enough to eat. The symphony has been remarkably
lucky and there are a number of highly recommendable versions.

Top of the list is probably the Cleveland recording under the
late George Szell (1966) (CBS/Sony).  Szell was a great
Mahlerian and it is unfortunate that he only recorded two of the
symphonies: his recording of the sixth has been out of the
catalogue for years, but this fourth is a wonderful testament to
his skill.

Another historic version is the 1939 recording made live with
the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam conducted by Willem Mengelberg
(Phillips). Mengelberg worshipped Mahler and knew him well.  He
took great pains to note down every detail of Mahler's own
performances in his own copies of the scores; this recording is,
therefore, although dating from over a quarter of a century
after the composer's death, the closest we are ever likely to
get to the way Mahler himself would have conducted. The huge,
unmarked, ritardando in the opening bars immediately indicates
that this is a performance in what one might describe as the
'authentic" romantic tradition; it is almost impossible to
imagine such a performance being given today or, indeed, what
the critics might say about it. This mid-price CD is also, apart
from a 1926 studio recording of the fifth Symphony Adagietto,
the only recording extant of Mengelberg conducting Mahler.  Be
warned, however, that the sound is less than hi-fi and there are
a number of clicks, pops and swishes stemming from the original
78 acetate masters.  Nevertheless this is an extremely important
record. I played this on February 21st, so those of you who were
listening will know what to expect.

As an aside, it is remarkable to discover that the very first
recording of this symphony was made in 1930 in Japan, conducted
by a Viscount Hidemaro Konoye.  This version is also available
on CD (Denon), but I suspect its chief attraction is its
curiosity value. Apparently the last few bars are missing from
the original masters - presumably the 78s ran out just too soon.

Among more modern versions those of Lorin Maazel with the VPO
and Franz Welser-Most with the LPO are both highly enjoyable.
They are both digital recordings and the latter, under the
orchestra's recently-appointed chief conductor, features what
must be the slowest performance ever of the heavenly third
movement - and yet it doesn't seem a second too long. A highly
auspicious debut for a new conductor.


Symphony No. 5

"The symphony is accursed - nobody understands it.... I wish I
could conduct the first performance 50 years after my death."
(Mahler)

This is the symphony with the famous Adagietto movement - as
featured in Visconti's "Death in Venice" and at JFK's funeral.

The two prime recommendations for this symphony are: firstly the
1969 NPO version under Sir John Barbirolli. This has now been
remastered onto a single CD: in fact a short horn passage,
unaccountably missing from the original LP, was rerecorded by
the original horn player in the same hall specifically for the
reissue! There is a real sense of electricity about this
performance, which you can feel merely by sampling the opening
bars: when the entire orchestra enters after the trumpet's
initial fanfares I guarantee a shiver will run down your spine.
If the performance has a flaw it is that the finale is really a
little too slow.

So, if you want a faster last movement, a modern recording and
still on a single CD, then you can do no better that
the Leonard Bernstein's VPO recording from 1987.  Fabulous, and
one of the best performances of his second Mahler cycle, it has
also been reissued as part of DG's cheap Leonard Bernstein
Edition.  The Guiseppi Sinopoli version with the NPO is also
very fine but perhaps lacks the very last word in excitement.

After having said all that, the recording I played on February
28th., was a live recording from 1960 by Dmitri Mitropolous.
Very few of this Greek-born conductor's recordings are still in
the catalogue, and none of his Mahler, as far as I can
ascertain. I cannot recommend this as it is no longer available
and, in any case, was extremely difficult to find when it was
available; nevertheless, Mitropoulos was undoubtedly an
important figure in the history of Mahler conducting, and
non-availability of material has never stopped me from playing
recordings over the air!


Symphony No. 6

"My sixth will propound riddles the solution of which may be
attempted only by a generation which has absorbed and truly
digested my first five symphonies" (Mahler, in a letter to
Richard Specht)

"The only Sixth, despite the 'Pastoral'." (Alban Berg, in a
letter to Anton Webern.)

This, to me, is the heart of the Mahler canon; the "dark night
of the soul" at the centre of his central instrumental trilogy. 
Whereas all the other symphonies either end in triumph (1, 2, 5,
7, 8), tranquillity (3, 4) or resigned acceptance (Das Lied, the
ninth, and the tenth) the sixth is almost unremittingly bleak. 
"Life's a bitch and then you die" just about sums up this work. 
Mahler himself was superstitious about conducting this symphony,
and reportedly burst into tears when told, by Richard Strauss,
before the premiere in Essen in 1906, that the Mayor had just
died. The finale features three great hammer blows (usually
achieved by hitting a reinforced section of the floor with a
sledgehammer) which represent the three blows of fate which fell
the hero of the symphony.  The last hammer blow (which Mahler
removed from the published version of the score) is of course
his death.

There seem to be three ways to approach this symphony, the
conventional way, with moderate tempi, is the most often taken.
The best examples of this are the BPO under Herbert von Karajan
(1975), the Chicago Symphony under Claudio Abbado (1980) now
available at mid-price, the 1966 Stockholm PO/Horenstein
(Unicorn) and, probably - I have yet to hear this one - the new
CBSO/Rattle recording.

Then there is the Bernstein approach: exceptionally, many would
say excessively, quick tempi in the outer movements - you would
have to run to keep up with Bernstein's march. His recent DG
remake is apparently slightly less extreme than his 1960s
(CBS/Sony) version but you really have to sample either in order
to know whether you can take this view of the work or not.
Kubelik (DG) is almost as fast in the first movement.

Finally, and my personal favourite, there is the 1968
NPO/Barbirolli recording. This is exceptionally (excessively?)
slow in the first and last movements and the first,
at any rate, is liberally accompanied by grunts from the
conductor. My love for this version may well be influenced by my
vivid memories of hearing Barbirolli conduct this in London a
few days before the recording - a shattering experience indeed.

It has been suggested that those who first came to this symphony
via either Bernstein's or Barbirolli's more extreme
interpretations find it colours their view indelibly.  This may
well be true, and certainly has been for me; those who were
listening when I played this version on March 7th. can judge for
themselves.  Alas, this has yet to be reissued on CD.

One final semi-recommendation: the Philharmonia/Sinopoli version
employs some similarly controversial tempi to the Barbirolli and
is excellently recorded.

All of the above are double CDs, with the exception of
Bernstein's CBS recording, which appears on a triple coupled
with his 1966 eighth (see below).


Symphony No. 7

"The symphony was scarcely understood by the public." (Alma
Mahler)

"The work is dominated by a tragic and elemental power, that of
Death." (Willem Mengelberg)

This one is even more difficult to pull off than the third.
Unless the conductor is really committed the symphony can seem
to be a rambling succession of interesting moments which fail to
cohere. 

The versions by Abbado, with the Chicago Symphony (DG) and
Bernstein's DG remake with the NYPO are both very fine;
personally I prefer the Bernstein, but either can safely be
recommended. 

However, once again, for me Horenstein triumphs. An Italian
company, Descant, has recently started a "Horenstein Edition"
featuring lovingly transferred live recordings, mostly purchased
from the BBC (these are not pirated), in good stereo.
The 1969 NPO seventh, recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in
London, is absolutely tremendous. Furthermore it is on a single
CD, which no other version is. The snag is that these recordings
are not generally available. For those of you who are
sufficiently interested, I append the mail order address of the
only North American source of which I am aware.  This is the
version I played on March 14th.


Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand".

"Imagine that the Universe bursts into song. We hear no longer
human voices, but those of planets and suns which revolve." 
(Mahler, in a letter to Mengelberg.)

Mahler's description of this symphony is an apt one; and
certainly the experience of the music should be overwhelming, it
should leave you feeling, however briefly, that this is
unquestionably the greatest piece of music ever written.

A spectacular recording then, is a sine qua non, especially for
anyone unfamiliar with the work. But a great performance is just
as essential. I have heard this work live twice: the first time,
in London in 1966, under Bernstein was unforgettable, one of the
greatest musical experiences of my life. The second time, twenty
years later, was again in London, conducted by Sir Colin Davis.
Even as I was overwhelmed by the sheer physical impact of the
sound I was thinking to myself "this is wrong - it should be
Mahler, not Berlioz".  So, in a sense, an uninspired performance
is worse than none at all.

Two versions at the top of the list then: the 1972 CSO/Solti, a
stunning recording for its day, it still sounds extremely well
and, for me, far outshines all of Solti's other Mahler
recordings (except, perhaps, that 1964 LSO first).  The other
first choice (and why haven't I bought this version
yet?) is Tennstedt's 1987 digital recording, which won the
Gramophone orchestral record of the year award for that year.

Because this symphony is so huge in its orchestral, solo and
choral demands it is almost invariably left to last in a
complete cycle. This is why we still have no version from Abbado
and, tragically, why there will be no digital remake from
Bernstein - he was slated to rerecord it next year in New York.
There is apparently a DG Laserdisc of his 1970s Vienna
performance, never issued on record in any other format, and
perhaps this will eventually appear on CD - I certainly hope so.
Despite its inferior recording, therefore, I must still enter a
plea on behalf of his 1966 LSO (CBS/Sony) recording.  This was
made a few days after the live performance I witnessed and I
have lived with it on LP for almost a quarter of a century (and
I find that hard to believe even as I write it).  To my mind it
is a greater performance than any other I have heard.
This is the version I played on March 21st.

Incidentally, Descant are apparently planning to release the
legendary 1959 Horenstein performance, recorded live in London,
in the near future. This will undoubtedly be well worth
investigating.


Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth)

"I stand face to face with nothing... at a single stroke I have
lost any calm and peace of mind I ever achieved... now, at the
end of my life, (I) have to begin to learn to walk and stand."
(Mahler, in a letter to Bruno Walter, 1909.)

"Can this be endured at all? Won't the people kill themselves
afterwards?" (Mahler to Bruno Walter, 1908.)

Shortly after completing the eighth, Mahler was diagnosed as
having a valvular malformation of the heart. Not only did this
prevent his indulging in his favourite activities, such as
walking in the mountains, it also meant that he was living under
a sentence of death.

This was the third blow of fate, as he had foreseen in his sixth
symphony; the others being the death of his elder daughter
"Putzi", from scarlet fever, and his forced resignation from the
Vienna State Opera.

The Song of the Earth, based on translations of Chinese poems,
he superstitiously refused to call a symphony: it would have
been his ninth, and Beethoven, Schubert, Bruckner and Dvorak had
all failed to live to complete more than nine symphonies.

Nevertheless this profoundly moving work - I have seen audiences
in tears at the close - is sufficiently symphonic to merit
discussion with the other nine, and Mahler did subtitle it
"Symphony for Contralto and Tenor Voices and Large Orchestra". 
Although written in the full knowledge of his impending demise, the
work ends with an acceptance of the inevitably of death: we regret our
passing but know that we cannot avoid it.  Das Lied consists of six
movements, alternating for the tenor and alto soloists.  The
last movement, Der Abschied (The Farewell) lasts for approximately 30
minutes and is longer than the first five combined.

Mahler died before the first performance of this piece, and the
premiere was conducted by Bruno Walter. Walter's interpretation,
therefore, has a unique authority and there are two wonderful
recordings available to display it. Firstly a 1936 live VPO
recording, the first ever, on Pearl. Although the sound is,
inevitably, limited this is still a remarkable recording and
very moving. It is coupled with an extremely rare Ruckert Lieder
performance from the same concert, and with Walter's 1935 studio
recording of the Adagietto from the fifth symphony.

Walter's other recording, with the VPO from 1951 (Decca/London)
is even more legendary, as the contralto is Kathleen Ferrier who
was herself dying of cancer when it was made. Ferrier had first
performed this work with Walter at the 1948 Edinburgh festival;
at the end of the performance she was in tears and could not
sing the final few notes. When she apologised to the conductor
afterwards for this "unprofessional" behaviour he made the
unforgettably gallant reply: "My dear Miss Ferrier, if we were
all such great artists as yourself, we should all have been in
tears".

Both these recordings are, of course, in mono. Unfortunately
there does not seem to be a generally recommendable modern
recording; probably the best, by the Concertgebouw under Bernard
Haitink with the great Janet Baker from 1976 (Phillips) has
unaccountably not yet been transferred to CD.

But I have been keeping the best for last. One of the 3 CDs in
Descant's Horenstein Edition is a 1972 recording, with the BBC
Northern SO, of Das Lied. Horenstein had suffered a major
coronary the previous year, and at the time of the recording had
less than a year to live. The combination of an excellent
orchestra (now renamed the BBC Philharmonic in recognition of
their worth) who had, amazingly, never played the work before,
together with a great conductor probably aware that he might
never conduct it again, makes for the greatest performance I
have ever heard.  At 69 minutes it is also slower than any other
- even Bernstein - but never seems to be a second too long.

Shortly before his own death, Horenstein said "one of the
saddest things about leaving this world is not hearing Das Lied
von der Erde ever again".  Those of you who heard this
performance, on March 28th., may well agree with him.  Essential.


Symphony No. 9

"Once again I have played through the first movement of Mahler's
ninth symphony; the first movement is the most heavenly thing
Mahler ever wrote. It is the expression of an exceptional
fondness for this earth, the longing to live in peace on it, to
enjoy nature to its depths - before death comes." (Alban Berg,
in a letter to his future wife.)

"Der Abschied might well have been used as the title of the
ninth symphony. ... The first movement grew to be a tragically
moving and noble paraphrase of the farewell feeling. A unique
soaring between farewell sadness and a vision of Heavenly
Light..." (Bruno Walter)

Having managed to cheat fate, as it were, by calling his ninth
symphony a song cycle, Mahler returned to purely orchestral
writing. The ninth is, like Das Lied, very much the work of a
man who is aware of his mortality. The first movement, which
opens with an irregular rhythm said to represent his faltering
heartbeat, has been called the greatest single symphonic
movement he ever wrote. 

Again Mahler did not live to conduct this work and the premiere
was given by Bruno Walter.  Once again Walter leaves us two
recordings: the first is an amazing live version, recorded in
Vienna on January 16th., 1938. Not only is this a unique
document of the work's first interpreter with the first
orchestra that ever played it, it is also the swansong of the
pre-war Vienna Philharmonic: mere weeks later the Nazis invaded
Austria and the orchestra was purged of its Jewish members -
including Walter.  Allowances must, of course, be made for the
sound but the intensity of the performance sweeps all before it.
This version is on a single budget (EMI) CD and won the
Gramophone's historic reissue award (non-vocal) for 1988.  Tune
in on April 4th. to hear this.

Walter's second recording, from 1961 with the Columbia SO
(CBS/Sony), is in surprisingly good stereo sound and is self
recommending.

There are several other versions I should not want to live
without: Klemperer's stoic 1967 recording (EMI), made after a
serious illness; Haitink's 1969 version with the Concertgebouw
(Phillips), beautifully recorded; Abbado's digital VPO version,
which is much better than the live performance I heard him give
with the LSO in London in 1986, and is possibly the best
recorded of all; Barbirolli's 1963 Berlin Philharmonic
performance, reissued on a single CD (EMI) is also a great
bargain.  Karajan would, for many years, for some reason, not
conduct Mahler and it was Barbirolli who established a Mahler
tradition in Berlin.  Although even now, as Simon Rattle said
with astonishment after conducting the sixth with the BPO,
"there are still members of the orchestra who think that Richard
Strauss was a greater composer than Mahler!"

That, of course, brings us to the famous 1982 BPO Karajan
recording. Karajan recorded the ninth twice within 18 months.
The first, analogue, recording only appeared on LP, the second,
made live at the Berlin festival in digital sound, only on CD. 
Although much hoopla was made of the performance at the time -
it won the Gramophone's record of the year award - and it is
certainly exceptionally fine, somehow, for me at any rate, it
doesn't wear as well as the others I have mentioned.

There is also a live LSO/Horenstein recording on the Music and
Arts label - available in specialist shops in Vancouver - from
1966. I haven't heard the recording but was present at the
performance itself which was a very special occasion.
Worth seeking out. 

Symphony No. 10

"Almschi, to live for you! To die for you!" (Mahler's scrawled
note to his wife, across the pages of the finale of the
unfinished tenth symphony.)

"I was moved to tears, I had not realised there was so much
Mahler in it." (Alma Mahler, in a letter to Deryck Cooke, May
1963, after she had finally been persuaded to listen to a tape
of his "performing version".)

As one writer once put it, Mahler's attempts to emulate Schubert
with an unfinished symphony were frustrated by Deryck Cooke with
his "performing version" of the tenth. (Previously such figures
as Schoenberg, Shostakovich and Britten had been asked to
complete it.) There is much controversy over this version, and
many conductors (including Walter, Bernstein, Haitink, Sinopoli
and Abbado) refused to perform it.  Mahler's widow, Alma, who
lived into the early 1960s, with Bruno Walter's encouragement,
initially put an embargo on performances. After Walter's death
in 1962, she was persuaded to listen to a tape of a BBC
broadcast; she unequivocally recanted her previous position, and
even made previously unpublished sketches available to Cooke,
which he incorporated into his revised version.

The argument about the tenth cannot ever, of course, be
resolved. Undoubtedly Mahler would have made changes to the work
in revision, but then he revised all of his symphonies after
their first performances, and so, in a very real sense, we do
not have Mahler's last word on either Das Lied von der Erde or
the ninth symphony, neither of which he lived to hear.

The first movement of the tenth, the Adagio, was almost complete
at his death, and the edition of this made by the composer Ernst
Krenek, at Alma Mahler's request, is the one used in most
recordings. Many of the records I have already discussed include
the Adagio from the 10th as a filler (e.g.  Sinopoli's sixth,
Abbado's ninth) but none of them are sufficiently spectacular to
effect my previous opinions of these sets.

If you want to hear Cooke's performing version then your choices
are limited: there is Ormandy's 1964 recording of Cooke's first
version, recently reissued on a single CD; Rattle's 1980
Bournemouth recording of Cooke's revision, Chailly's Berlin
version and James Levine's portmanteau.

Ormandy was not the world's greatest Mahlerian but his
recording, uniquely, offers us Cooke's first thoughts and is
cheap - it's on a single mid-price (CBS/Sony) CD.  Levine's is a
hybrid: the Adagio is the Krenek version and was recorded in
analogue sound. Some time afterwards Levine obviously had a
change of heart and recorded the other four movements in the
Cooke version digitally.

Rattle's version is of the complete Cooke revision, with a few
minor emendations by the conductor, and is excellent, although
the Bournemouth Symphony is not the world's finest orchestra.
This is a full-price double CD coupled, unlike Levine's which is
alone on two CDs, with the Schoenberg transcription of Brahms'
first piano quartet.

The Chailly, with the Berlin Radio SO, is highly regarded in
some quarters and is coupled with the orchestral version of
Schoenberg's Verklaerte Nacht. I have not heard this but the
general opinion seems to be that Rattle's is still the best.  It
would be nice, though, if EMI would allow Rattle to remake this
with his own CBSO - now that would be worth waiting
for. In the meantime, you can hear Rattle's version on April
11th.


Note on the Horenstein Edition.

As I discussed above, Descant have begun a series of CDs devoted
to rare live recordings by this great, unjustly-neglected,
conductor. The initial release consists of:

    Mahler:   Das Lied von der Erde with John Mitchinson, Alfreda
              Hodgson and the BBC Northern SO, recorded in 1972.
                   (Descant 01)

    Mahler:  Symphony No. 7 with the Philharmonia O, recorded in
             1969.
                  (Descant 02)

    Bruckner: Symphony No. 5 with the BBC SO, recorded in 1971
             (and one  of the finest two or three versions of this
	     symphony known to me).
                     (Descant 03)

These recordings are all available, by mail order, from:

    Berkshire Record Outlet
    Rte 102 Pleasant St.,
    RR 1,
    Lee
    MA 01238-9804
    USA
    1-800-992-1200

If anyone knows of any closer source please write to me, c/o
Offbeat, and let me know.

Incidentally, this company also has, at the time of writing, a
limited supply of LPs of the NPO/Wyn Morris recording of the
1893 version of the first symphony, as mentioned above.  It is
on the PRT label, catalogue number GSGC 2045.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

P.S. to the above (originally written April 1991).

1st Symphony: EMI have announced the CD reissue of thew Wyn
Morris recording of the 1893 version. I have yet to see this CD
in the stores, or a review of it anywhere.

2nd Symphony: Pearl have reissued the 1923 (sic!) first
recording, conducted by Oskar Fried, a Mahler protege. Some
people may find the recording completely unlistenable, but it's
a fascinating document. Also contains the legendary 1928
recording of Kindertotenlieder, conducted by Jascha Horenstein.

MCA have reissued the famous 1961-ish recording conducted by
Hermann Scherchen. This is coupled with his recording of the 1st
(which I have not heard). This is a really dangerous performance
of the Resurrection, with some VERY extreme tempi. Despite the
limitations of the recording and the orchestra this is a must
hear. At times (particularly during the 2nd movement) the
conducting is so analytical that I felt it probably would have
sounded this way conducted by Webern; overall, though, the
wildness of the performance is, in my opinion, the closest I've
ever heard to the way I suspect Mahler himself might have done
it.

5th Symphony: a remarkable performance, again by Scherchen, on
Harmonia Mundi. There is, however, a HUGE cut in the central
scherzo, reducing it to 5 minutes and thus making it the
shortest, not the longest, movement. Nonetheless, a remarkable
achievement. Who says the French (it's the ORTF) can't play
Mahler?

6th Symphony: a highly controversial start to a new series on
Chandos with the Royal Danish and Finnish composer Leif
Segerstam at the helm. In fanfare one reviewer sang it's praises
for 4 (yes four) pages while another dismissed it in two
paragraphs. Reinstates the third hammer blow, and actually makes
sense of it. Coupled with a fine performance of Todtenfeier -
the original, quite different - version of the opening movement
of the Resurrection.

Szell's live 1968 version has also been reissued on a single buget
price CD by Sony.

8th Symphony: Leonard Bernstein's Salzburg Festival recording
from 1976 has been issued by DG. The performance is typically
Lenny, the recording is only so so, and the soloists are
variable. What a shame we shall never have a digital remake.

Das Lied von der Erder: rejoice! Philips have finally reissued the
1977 Baker/King/Concertgebouw/Haitink on their mid-price Silverline
series. Probably the finest modern recording, Janet Baker is peerless
in the last movement.

9th Symphony: the Horenstein on Music and Arts is even better
than I remembered, an incredible performance that brought tears
to my eyes at the climax of the finale. I have NEVER heard a
finer performance. Recording (live, 1966) is fair.

10th Symphony: I finally picked up a copy of the Chailly, which
appears to have been deleted: wonderful recording quality, better than
the Rattle, but the performance does not outshine the latter, which,
incidentally, EMI have just reissued on a single disc. There is also a
live performance under Kurt Sanderling on an obscurish European label
(can't remember which) which Fanfare claims to be the best yet,
although it doesn't seem to have reached Canada....
-- 
Deryk Barker
Computer Science Dept.
Camosun College,
Victoria, BC
Canada