Mahler: Symphony No. 10
Just as the Payne/Elgar Symphony No. 3 is not Edward Elgar's definitive statement, Mahler did not complete his Symphony No. 10. He did, however, complete the first movement in full score and the second in short score, while he left incomplete sketches for the remainder. Had he lived, Mahler would almost certainly have shaped the material further. This means that the performance edition prepared by Deryck Cooke in the early 1960s is not a completion, it's an orchestration of the short score left at Mahler's death in 1911. It nevertheless sounds very "complete," both in itself and as a summation of the romantic-epic 19th century German musical tradition. Hereafter, the France of Debussy and Ravel would lead the musical world, and Stravinsky's 1913 Parisian premiere ofThe Rite of Springwould turn it upside-down.Simon Rattle has recorded a fine version with the CBSO. In 1980, Rattle conducted the Symphony No. 10 in a highly acclaimed performance with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and this later version with the Berlin Philharmonic offers even greater expressive control and power. The tempos are slightly slower and, inevitably, the performances more musically eloquent. The excellent live sound omits all but the faintest background noise, and the grave beauty of the Finale becomes a deeply moving testament to a world long-since gone.--Gary S. Dalkin