There, fixed it for you! He was pretty underwhelming when I saw him at Westonbirt too.
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I think that the best ever Mahler Fourth was George Szell’s Cleveland recording, made in about 1965. I don’t think that you can buy that on a new LP these days.
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I’d agree that Kertesz’ VPO version is a favourite and superior to his LSO account. the LSO cycle is overall excellent, but the Ninth is somehow less special than the rest to my ears. The Kubelik is wonderful too and has the benefit of a great recording, but for me loses its way a bit in the slow second movement. Whisper it quietly, but my desert island choice would be HvK’s 1964 account with Berlin.
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A very lovely and accessible symphony to my mind. Since you posted and said it was the 4th, I have been listening to my LSO SACD rip by Valero Gergiev.
I am sure you will have a great evening!
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In case it helps you with considering secondhand, I bought some speakers new in ~1975 (previous were DIY). Inflation corrected cost today ~£2.5-3k, but nearest equavalent made today would be more like £6k. I moved them on in ~1990, after replacing perished mid driver surrounds (a common problem with foam surrounds - worth avoiding), but they are still going strong today, with no further issues (they remained in the family, eventually becoming my son’s 8 years ago).
Their replacement were my first secondhand speakers, ~20 years old at the time, the “big brothers” of my previous ones. They cost me the equivalent of £1.5k today, and the nearest equivalent now is around £10k new. After about 24 years (=age 44) I recapped the crossover and at the same time discovered that a supertweeter had failed and replaced it. I moved them on a couple of years later - however they are still going strong today, 8 years on: my brother-in-law very happy with them, now about 54 years old!
My next speakers cost me the equivalent of about £5.5k in today’s money, but though secondhand were young, just under 8 years old - if made today I guess would cost maybe £12-15k, though nearest equivalent actually available today is £24k.
My current speakers I got only a year and a half ago, and cost me the equivalent of only a bargain £5.5k in today’s money, with their current incarnation almost £30k new.
All have been full range transmission line speakers of the “monitor” type, the first two IMF and the last two PMC.
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The third part has been of great comfort to me in difficult moments.
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Cannot find this on Qobuz so unfortunately I won’t be able to listen to it.
Actually, just found this which states a 1964 performance. First impressions are good though I can’t play it loud at this time of night!
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Herbie going for a ‘man of action’ look astride a Beemer bike, and without a helmet on his head!
I used to think I needed very big speakers with large dynamic range for convincing orchestral sound, but was never satisfied, I could get the weight, but not the realism… and later discovered the secret for me was speakers with very low upper mid and treble colouration (in terms of phase distortions or smearing ) , plus reasonable bass extension, but the latter surprisingly not that important.
I have found in my personal setup under damped thin walled speakers do this best. Especially around the mid and treble drivers. Technically I can theorise why… but I will leave that for another time. So low upper mid colouration thin walled un or under damped dynamic speakers, or in theory electrostatics which approximate the same benefits but I have not recently used.
With this not only orchestral sounds great, but so does orchestral operatic. You need those clear focussed un smeared upper mids and highs… and then the realism jumps out at you. In my experience so many consumer dynamic speakers are poor in this regard… which I suspect puts many off listening to orchestral on their hifi … quite simply because it sounds bad or unconvincing compared to many other genres.
This plays well with orchestral works from the romantic era composers such as Mahler, Bruckner, Fauré and Tchaikovsky
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He was a funny fish, wasn’t he? Or maybe ‘monstrous rampant egotist’ would be more accurate. Doesn’t stop me liking a lot of his recordings, though, even if some of them were recorded in rather peculiar-sounding ways.
With my liking for Telarc’s recordings, this is the Dvořák 9 I plumped for.
But don’t just take my word for it: it was included in Gramophone’s 2021 roundup of the best recordings - here are some excerpts:
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Paavo Järvi reveals his keen imagination and sharp concentration in both performances and under his guidance the Cincinnati SO is consistently excellent: ensemble more than matches that of the rival versions, including Järvi’s father Neeme in both works.
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The quality of the playing is highlighted by the refinement and clarity of the brilliant Telarc recording, with cleaner separation than in any version listed.
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Paavo Järvi is a degree warmer than his father, a shade readier to allow flexibility in tempo and phrasing but never sounding self-conscious or unspontaneous.
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Though there are many highly recommendable versions of this much-recorded work, this one is a strong candidate in every way; and, quite apart from the outstanding recording quality, has its unique coupling to commend it.
It was also released on SACD, which I missed at the time and now seems to be only available s/h for funny money. Shame.
Mark
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Can I ask what speakers you have?
Think that is a Yamaha YM1!
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Yes I fully agree the recording quality is as good as it gets. If you want to hear the capabilities of your system playing symphonic music this cd is a good buy and of course if you like the New World Symphony (or you live in Shaftesbury!).
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Picking up on a couple of recommendations in this thread. Shahinians are marvellous for reproducing the scale of orchestral music. I remember my jaw dropping when I first listened to the Obelisks I bought in 2000, then played through a powerful Class A amplifier. I still have them, though now I have Kudos 606s in my main system. I’m also a convert to the use of subwoofers. I use REL510s with the Titans and now get close to that feeling of scale achieved with the Obelisks. I prefer the 606s to the Obelisks for other aspects of presentation.
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I have various speakers - including Yamaha actives, and Russell K RED speakers on my ‘hifi’ . Its the latter I enjoy for orchestral works now
Thank you Simon. I shall note that for future auditions.
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