The classical music thread

That Decca Romeo & Juliet pressing of mine is mostly in good shape but has light scratches and noise here and there. It’s such a great recording I thought I would look for one in better shape. I bought one on discogs from a seller’s private collection that was play graded Near Mint. And so it seems. It arrived today and after a ultrasonic cleaning I have been playing the first disc, and it sounds pristine. If the other two are the same this will be a very nice score.

I want a box set of Mahler Symphonies.

High resolution modern recording of more interest at the moment than artistic interpretation. Bernstein,Rattle etc all seem to of an earlier age.

Individual symphonies could be purchased if this helps.

For headphone listening.

I think Ivan Fischer has released 1-7 and 9 on the Channel Classics label. He has no plans to record the 8th.

Hello, Nick, and where do we start?

Leonard Bernstein’s later (second) set of carefully recorded ‘live’ Mahler Symphonies for Deutsche Grammophon - with the Vienna Phil, Concertgebouw, and New York Phil - is very much the set to go for, in my opinion. It includes a great Ninth with the Concertgebouw, but you may want to supplement the set with Bernstein’s only ever recording with Karajan’s Berlin Phil of the Ninth (on two DGG LPs or CDs), which is even more fantastic than the Amsterdam account.

This set was discontinued by DGG a few years ago, but reappeared last year. If you fancy it, grab a set while you can, as it may disappear without notice again.

If Lennie isn’t to your liking, you could go for Solti (Decca) leading the London SO, Vienna Phil, Chicago SO and Concertgebouw, or Tennstedt with the London PO (EMI).

Simon Rattle has recorded the Mahler Symphonies for EMI with the Vienna PO, Berlin PO and CBSO, but I don’t know if EMI have them packaged as a set at the present.

Karajan’s Mahler divides listeners, but he has recorded the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and two sets of the Ninth with his Berliners - the later ‘live’ Ninth (on two LPs or CDs) is one of the wonders of the record world.

Other Mahler Symphonies abound from the likes of Haitink (Philips), Tennstedt (EMI), Abbado and Kubelik (both DGG), Bernstein’s first recorded 1960s set with his New York Phil (CBS Sony) and there are individual classics such as a George Szell Cleveland Fourth (CBS Sony) and even Pierre Boulez has recorded a few for CBS Sony and later DGG.

But I’ll leave it at that, and let other Members comment. Feel free to disagree!

If you can find the Gary Bertini set on EMI at a good price, grab it. It’s a great all round set.

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Other notable sets are from Kubelik, Gielen, Bernstein, Haitink.

Avoid Rattle totally.

Graham’s recommendation of Karajan’s 4, 5, 6 and 9 is a good one. With the 9th, it must be his live version .

IMHO of course… :grin:

Got out my old DG boxset of Sibelius
(first set I ever bought, in 1973). Karajan and Okko Kamu.

Playing Kamu’s Third with RSO Helsinki.

I exchanged some emails with Jared Sacks – the owner of Channel Classics – years ago to ask about a Fischer Mahler 8. He told me, “Don’t wait for the 8th as we are not excited about recording this symphony. Too large and expensive in these difficult times and just not one of Mahler’s best pieces.”

But all the others have been done and released, plus Das Leid von der Erde

For me, Rattle’s CBSO version of Mahler 2 is outstanding, not least because of the soloists Arleen Auger and, especially, Janet Baker. IMHO, of course.

Roger

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For the 2nd, my personal choice would be Blomstedt/SFSO on Decca.

I should have added that most/all? of the Channel Classics recordings is available on SACD and/or hi-res streams.

I have Nos. 5 and 7 and they sound great. I keep hoping for a box set at a lower price.

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I bought all the Fischer/Mahler from Channel Classics as 24/192 FLAC files years ago.

I don’t have a SACD player (and never will). I don’t even have a CD player (and never will). Now I stream from Qobuz, and the Channel Classics is there as 24/192 streams. The only physical media I purchase is vinyl LPs.

Not perhaps super modern but the Haitink set with the concertgebouw is definitely a recommendation…

Haitink is surely a much ‘safer’ recommendation than Lennie B, and Philips always produced great recordings in the Concertgebouw hall, but I know which I prefer for repeated listening.

A bit (or even a lot) of passion is never out of place in Mahler.


For me this edition of Gramophone is truly fascinating.

Well I said modern recording over interpretation was important in this instance ….so here we are
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I will then branch out and enjoy your recommendations against what I hear here.
I am a jazzer at heart with Haydn/Mozart chamber music a great love but I am still stretching and learning.
Thank you all.

Is that this month’s issue of Gramophone? I used to buy it every month for over 30 years, but I lost interest latterly. I thought that it became ever more comic-like, once reviewers such as Richard Osborne and Robert Layton stopped contributing.

But that particular issue looks interesting.

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It is the April 23 issue. In addition to the usual content it includes an additional 80 pages of history.

Thanks so much, Alan. I’m about to head into Brighton city centre, so I shall try to find a copy - haven’t read an issue for over 10 years!

Good to hear mention of my old English teacher, Richard Osborne. Still remember him taking us to Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudun and Hans Werner Henze’s The Bassarids.

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That’s fascinating, I never knew that Richard Osborne was an English teacher. I always assumed that he would be attached to a Music department in a school, college or university somewhere. I always thought that his Gramophone reviews hit the spot - unlike his former colleague Edward Greenfield, who came across as a plonker. (Although I admired the fact that Greenfield lived in a period-correct Georgian property in London’s Spitalfields, in Fournier Street or similar.)