I think that what you describe is perfectly normal.
I have always hugely enjoyed Mahler’s symphonies, with the exception of the Seventh. I have tried buying a number of different recordings (I probably have about four), but the Seventh has never ‘clicked’ with me.
I find that strange. Similarly, I have most Yes albums on LP, but ‘Tales Of Topographic Oceans’ has always eluded me.
Easter weekend listening, a copy of Handel’s Messiah on DGG, probably bought more decades ago than i would wish, maybe five. Still a mint copy but a spin through the rcm in readiness.
I think that’s okay. I’ve probably outgrown Mahler, or rather all his decorative and expressive excesses. Tired with his lack of a compass, a clear plan and a desire to follow it rigorously, instead of tossing and turning between extremes. As I got older, I liked more introverted and less hysterical music. Less is more, as they say.
I liked Tales from Topographic Oceans, but listened less often than Close to the Edge or Relayer. With the release of Going for the One I lost interest in Yes almost completely, after the '70s listened only occasionally.
That’s fair.
I don’t blame you for not liking ‘Going For The One’. That wasn’t really a Yes album at all - or, at least, the musicians who performed on that record were not the people that most of us associate with classic Yes line-ups.
Interesting. the 7th is also one I have trouble with. I don’t reach for it very often because it just hasn’t yet clicked with me. Maybe I need to try a different version (I have Solti on Decca, Kubelik on DG, Bernstein on DG).
For those of you not yet aware, DG Classics is starting a new series, inspired by the success of the Tone Poet Blue Note series. Karajan’s Mahler 5 is among the first round of releases.
I’m not sure I understood you correctly. Isn’t that the same Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White?
Oh, my apologies. I was thinking of a slightly later incarnation, which was a horrid mash-up between members of Yes and Buggles, after the two bands had (improbably) toured together.
Or have I imagined that? Was there an LP called ‘Drama’ (I think) on which this happened, after Jon Anderson (and maybe others) left Yes?
Maybe I’ve overdosed on magic mushrooms, or something.
Well, everybody knows many of the top prog rock bands didn’t survive the '70s, either wrapping up their careers or starting making totally different music in the '80.
Perhaps the reason is that the 7th is not an easy piece to perform attractively. It is an enigmatic work, both for the listener and the interpreter.
Of the mentioned conductors of the 7th, Kubelik is interesting, but on another recording, live on Audite. Solti leaves me indifferent, and my attitude toward Bernstein’s Mahler is… shall we say, complicated. Of the other recordings of the 7th, I would highlight those from Hans Zender, Adam Fischer, Osmo Vänskä, Michael Gielen, Juka-Pekka Saraste. Bruno Maderna’s recording is very interesting, but the sound quality is not so good. Kirill Petrenko with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester seems to be quite good, noticeably more interesting than his routinely weak recordings as conductor of the Berliners.
Oh, I forgot that I have all of the Fischer/Budapest 24/192 files from Channel Classics (sans #8). I should give that a listen again. I keep forgetting I have digital versions of stuff…LOL.
I recall a radio interview with Sinopoli a long time ago in which he said [paraphrasing] “the thing about Mahler’s music that prevents me from fully embracing it is the quality of self-pity.”
I’ve never been a huge Mahler fan, and maybe this is a part of it, though melodrama never stopped me enjoying e.g. Tchaikovsky. 
By some reason I prefer recordings of Adam Fischer to recordings of his brother.
It seems to me that the comparison with Tchaikovsky may be only partly true. While Tchaikovsky is still quite within the tradition, Mahler has actively engaged in a deconstruction of both form and content. Then we will see it more explicitly with Schoenberg and so on. It’s no accident that someone called Mahler the first composer of the 20th century. Is this a praise, or a blame?
Curiously, I can hear Tchaikovsky’s influence in Sibelius, for example, in the Second Symphony. But Sibelius is pure and focused.
I went to a concert a few years ago in the Brighton Dome conducted by Adam Fischer, as part of the Brighton Festival, which I enjoyed. But for the life of me, I can’t remember the music played, or even which orchestra he conducted.
I have tickets to see Yuja Wang play at this year’s Festival, so I can see for myself what all the fuss is about. It can’t just be the low cut cocktail dresses and high heels, surely?
I have a Deutsche Grammophon CD of Ms Wang playing Rachmaninov and Prokofiev concertos with Gustavo Dudamel (aka The Dude) conducting the Simon Bolivar Orchestra, but I can’t play the wretched thing, as my CDS II needs to go back home to Naim HQ for repair.
I like Prokofiev Concerto from this album. Overall, I like Yuja Wang’s performances, she can be controversial, but not dull.
Really? It was Jon Anderson, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman and Alan White on Going For The One. Although you might prefer Bill Bruford on drums, that sounds like the classic Yes lineup to me.
I think that my memory may be letting me down on this, so I shall withdrawal gracefully as I can!
I think you are largely right, and wrong only in the details. Going for the One was a radical departure from the Yes we knew and loved. The fact that the people stayed the same only made it worse.
My favourite 7th is Abbado’s. I too blow a bit hot and cold with Mahler, he’s definitely long-winded and can get a bit hyperbolic, but he has a unique voice and does come up with some belters!
He also had an almost unparalleled command of orchestral scoring and understanding of the immense range of colours that a modern orchestra can conjure and that’s what really marks him out from my viewpoint.
I never miss a chance to see a live performance by any half decent orchestra for that reason.
