NOVEDADES CD

No es una novedad como tal (la edición de M&A lleva ya unos años en el mercado), pero en www.musicweb-internatioal.com, John Quinn publica ahora esta reseña de la 3ª y el adagio y Purgatorio de la 10ª de F. Charles Adler:...



Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No.3 in D minor (1895-96) [101:47]
Symphony No.10 (1910) - Adagio [22:40] and Purgatorio; edited Otto Jokl [4:03]
Hildegard Rössl-Majdan (alto)
Wiener Sängerknaben
Vienna Symphony Orchestra/F. Charles Adler
rec. 27 April 1952, Vienna (No.3) and 8 April 1953, live (No.10)
MUSIC & ARTS CD-1249 [66:00 + 67:05]

I've been keen to hear this performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony for a long time. It is the first recording of the work and that in itself would be sufficient to merit listening to it. However, as the late Tony Duggan indicated in his survey of recordings of the symphony, it is a commendable recorded performance in its own right and, as Tony said, it tells us a lot about performing practice in Mahler.

So, I was aware that this is a pioneering issue. What I didn’t realise until I read Mark Kluge’s comprehensive booklet essay, is how remarkable a figure was Charles Adler and I will draw on Mr Kluge’s fascinating essay for a very brief summary. Adler, who was christened Frederick Charles but never used his first given name, was born in London in 1889. His father was a banker and young Charles narrowly escaped a career in business. Instead he went to Germany where he studied under Felix Mottl. He got the Mahler bug at an early stage and helped prepare the choruses for the first performance of the Eighth symphony in 1910. Adler’s early career was spent in Germany and he rose to become Music Director of the Berlin State Radio (1924-1933). He fled Germany when Hitler came to power and settled in the USA, his base for the rest of his life. He established a career in the US, though not without some difficulty. The key to his later career was becoming artistic director to a small independent record label, SPA, which was established in 1951. The following year Adler went to Vienna and established a relationship with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. He was to pay regular visits to the city to give concerts and make recordings with the VSO until his death from cancer in February 1959.

Adler’s repertoire was nothing if not varied and enterprising; it ranged as far back as Frederick the Great and as far forward as a good deal of contemporary music. Mahler featured strongly and for SPA he made the first recordings of the Third and Sixth symphonies as well as one of the earliest recordings - the third, in fact - of the torso of Mahler’s Tenth.

Having waited so long to encounter Adler’s version of the Third I’m delighted to say that it doesn’t disappoint. The trouble for someone hearing it in 2012 is that we have been spoiled by hearing so many very fine recordings of the work set down since Adler’s pioneering account. For myself, when listening to the Third I find it very hard to dislodge from my memory Leonard Bernstein’s superb first recording of the work, made for CBS in April 1961 (review) or Jascha Horenstein’s very different but equally memorable 1970 traversal (review). It’s a measure of Adler’s achievement that his recording can be compared with these two market-leaders. It’s also worth noting that this massive symphony was set down in a single day - a feat repeated by Bernstein nine years later.

In the immense first movement Adler adopts quite a sturdy basic tempo for the march. I have to admit that there are several moments in this long movement when I wanted him to move the music along more. You won’t find the flamboyance of Bernstein here, nor the drama of Horenstein. However, Adler is by no means dull and in his hands the music is strongly projected - not least by the solo trombone. Adler has the measure of the music and conducts with grip and an excellent sense of purpose. You may feel that his tempi are careful, even cautious. I confess I thought that at first but I came to feel that in fact what we have here is a case of a broad conception of the music; essentially Adler’s is a firm, confident view of Mahler’s great march. His is undoubtedly a spacious reading: he takes 37:42 compared with Bernstein’s 33:16 and Horenstein’s 33:09. However, he maintains concentration well and he certainly carried me with him. He obtains good playing from the Viennese orchestra - as he does throughout the symphony - though it would be idle to pretend that we’re listening to the same level of virtuosity as is provided by the New York Philharmonic (Bernstein) or the LSO (Horenstein).

In the middle movements Adler’s timings are pretty similar to the other two conductors - though, of course, we’re considering much shorter movements here. In the second the VSO give him some graceful playing - and some nimble playing also - and Adler seems to me to be very successful and idiomatic in his use of rubato and in negotiating tempo changes. There’s more characterful playing on display in the third movement and once again Adler conveys the essence of the music. That said, it sounds a bit deliberate at times and there’s no doubt in my mind that Bernstein, for one, is much more adept at inflecting the rhythms with the right amount of spring. The post horn solo episodes are well managed; the instrument is decently distanced. However, the soloist is not the equal, I think, of Bernstein’s player or of Horenstein’s and I think there’s rather more magic in both the rival versions.

Hildegard Rössl-Majdan is a good, expressive soloist in the fourth movement and Adler’s account of the fifth is sprightly; here he gets some good, lively choral singing. He sets the seal on his performance with a dedicated reading of the long, slow finale. He’s patient in this movement, over which he takes 26:00 (Bernstein takes 25:04 and the somewhat more flowing Horenstein 22:43). It’s a deeply felt interpretation by Adler, who gets some eloquent playing from the VSO. I think he displays vision as well as patience in this movement and he brings the symphony to a majestic conclusion.

Mark Kluge asserts that Adler’s reading is “something more than merely an earnest effort”. I agree entirely. It’s a well-considered and idiomatic interpretation in its own right and even if it were not the first recording of this symphony I think it would merit a secure place in the recording history of this work. I’d say that as a pioneering achievement it’s up there with Eduard Flipse’s recordings of the Sixth and Eighth symphonies (review).

Music & Arts also include the two movements of Mahler’s Tenth which were all that were ever played until scholars such as Deryck Cooke produced performing versions of the full score. The music included here is given in the edition by Otto Jokl. Adler recorded this music for SPA in April 1953. Interestingly, however, M&A have chosen not to issue that recording but instead give us a live performance - with separately tracked applause - that Adler and the VSO gave on the day before the recording sessions. Apparently, this live performance has not previously been issued on disc. Adler leads a dedicated reading though for some reason that I can’t quite put into words the performance didn’t engage me in the same way that the Third did.

These recordings appear in 2010 transfers by Aaron Z. Snyder. As usual he’s done an excellent job and the sound quality on these sixty-year-old recordings is pretty impressive. The recording of the Third, in particular, is an important document and should be heard by all Mahler enthusiasts.

John Quinn

http://musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Jan13/Mahler_sy3_CD1249.htm

Ya sabíamos que Luisi había grabado la Sexta; no había aparecido aun la portada por aquí. Poco original

Sí, poco original y presuntamente tampoco muy interesante.

La colgué hace tiempo en ITERCAMBIOS, más bien MUY interesante

Bueno, bueno. Tampoco es para tanto. Ese forofismo...

Prejuicios, prejuicios... que no estamos en un campo de fútbol

Por aquí dejo esta cajita de Furt. De Mahler incluye los Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen con Poell que en su día editó Tahra. También la Primera y Segunda de Suitner:



2/3 juin 1944
MOZART: Symphonie n° 40, SCHUBERT: Rosamunde, entracte n° 3
BEETHOVEN: Léonore III

17 octobre 1944
BRUCKNER: Symphonie n° 8

19 décembre 1944
BEETHOVEN: Symphonie n° 3 "Eroica"

28 janvier 1945
FRANCK: Symphonie en ré mineur
BRAHMS: Symphonie n° 2

8 février 1949
MOZART: Concertos pour 2 pianos, K.365, avec Badura-Skoda et Dagmar Bella
27 janvier 1952
MOZART: Concerto pour piano n° 22, K.482, avec Badura-Skoda

7 janvier 1951
BEETHOVEN: Symphonie n° 9, avec Seefried, Anday, Patzak & Edelmann

25 janvier 1951
BRAHMS: Requiem allemand, avec Seefried, Fischer Dieskau et les Wiener Symphoniker

27 janvier 1952
BRAHMS: Variations Haydn, Double Concerto & Symphonie n° 1

9 avril 1952
BACH: Passion selon Saint Matthieu (1ère partie seulement)

29 novembre 1952
BEETHOVEN: Symphonie n° 1

30 novembre 1952
MAHLER: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, avec Alfred Poell
BEETHOVEN: Symphonie n° 3 "Eroica"

22 février 1953
GLUCK: Ouverture de Iphigénie en Aulide
FURTWÄNGLER: Symphonie n° 2

30 mai 1953
BEETHOVEN: Symphonie n° 9, avec Seefried, Anday, Dermota & Schöffler

10 avril 1954
BRUCKNER: Symphonie n° 8

15 avril 1954
BACH: Passion selon Saint Matthieu

Moreno escribió:....También la Primera y Segunda de Suitner...

...anunciada en estas mismas páginas en mayo del año pasado

¿Qué hubo, Moreno? Espero que estés bien...¿sabes cómo estará el sonido--y el precio ---de esa cajita de Furtwängler? Parece una buena colección de un repertorio muy cercano al director (si bien esa Pasión de Bach echa un poco para atrás, ¿no? ).

También acaban de publicar--de nuevo, en Orfeo--otra Novena de Beethoven desde Bayreuth (del año 54), pero he leído que le sonido es bastante pobre .



Un abrazo,

Con esa PsSM hay que tener cuidado, no se que fuentes manejará ORFEO -es de suponer que utilizará los originales-, pero es que cuando la editó EMI en su serie References guillotinaron las arias del bajo, curiosamente sellos piratas como Frequenz -es la que conozco- la editó completa, bueno, con los cortes de la época...

Robertino Bergamasco escribió:Con esa PsSM hay que tener cuidado, no se que fuentes manejará ORFEO -es de suponer que utilizará los originales-, pero es que cuando la editó EMI en su serie References guillotinaron las arias del bajo, curiosamente sellos piratas como Frequenz -es la que conozco- la editó completa, bueno, con los cortes de la época...

De hecho, en esta caja de Orfeo constan dos versiones de la PsSM, según he podido leer en un foro francés:

- 9 avril 1952
BACH: Passion selon Saint Matthieu (1ère partie seulement)
(A longtemps été rare mais est davantage accessible depuis la réédition Archipel de 2006)

- 15 avril 1954
BACH: Passion selon Saint Matthieu
(Peut-être une performance unique et inédite différente de la version publiée par EMI en CD ?)

Moreno escribió:De hecho, en esta caja de Orfeo constan dos versiones de la PsSM, según he podido leer en un foro francés:

- 9 avril 1952
BACH: Passion selon Saint Matthieu (1ère partie seulement)
(A longtemps été rare mais est davantage accessible depuis la réédition Archipel de 2006)

- 15 avril 1954
BACH: Passion selon Saint Matthieu
(Peut-être une performance unique et inédite différente de la version publiée par EMI en CD ?)

Yo la primera vez que vi la PSM con Furtwängler fue en LP, en aquella serie "pirata" de la Cetra italiana ("Opera Live" y "Concerts Live"), que permitió acercarse a algunos registros legendarios o casi (mucho Callas en La Scala o en México--¡aquellos Puritanos!, el Tristán de Karajan en Bayreuth 1952 ), con estándares de producción bastante altos para lo que era entonces habitual. No sé si lo que publicó EMI después era lo mismo o no..en cualquier caso, esta PSM es lo que, a priori, me parece menos atractivo de la cajita de Orfeo en cuestión...¿o me equivoco en mis prejuicios?

...¿o me equivoco en mis prejuicios?

Todo depende del valor que le des a los mismos, a mi con ellos me pasa como con las gafas, no salgo de casa sin ellos...

Mahler:
Symphony No. 1 in D major 'Titan'
Concertgebouw Amsterdam, 20 November 1999 (Live)
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphony No. 8 in E flat major 'Symphony of the Thousand'
Concertgebouw Amsterdam, 10 September 2002 (Live)
Rita Cullis, Angela Maria Blasi, Ofelia Sala (soprano), Reinhild Runkel, Catherine Keen (mezzo-soprano), Glenn Winslade (tenor), John Bröcheler (baritone) & Kurt Rydl (Bass)
National Choir of the Ukraine ‘Dumka’, Ukrainian Radio Choir & Dresden Philharmonic Children’s Choir
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Hartmut Haenchen

Ya no le basta con el DVD, ahora también en disco... ¡qué pesao el Pierino este!
Bueno, ya tengo disco para echarme la siesta.

Moreno escribió:Bueno, ya tengo disco para echarme la siesta.

Pues te deseo dulces sueños...

Moreno escribió:

¡La tan esperada portada! Pero no decían que iba a salir en Decca

...Pero no decían que iba a salir en Decca

Ni idea, Psanquin, lo curioso es que sale el mismo día que lo que yo pensaba sería la integral del Mahler de Boulez (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boulez-Conducts-Mahler-Gustav/dp/B004NO5HLG/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1359788143&sr=1-2), en este caso si que dice que será Decca y además apunta Number of Discs: 1, por lo que aparentemente de integral nada, de momento. Y como te digo, lo ponen en venta el mismo día que DKL (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-klagende-Lied-Berg-Lulu-Suite/dp/B005F23JV0/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1359788389&sr=1-3) que, aunque la portada sea de DG, en la descripción del producto apuntan: Decca. En el fondo son lo que son, Universal Music Group International.

Sí, al ser el mismo grupo bien podían hacerlo, pero realmente sonaba de lo más extravagante. Afortunadamente no ha sido así y así queda el ciclo:



Uno más en el católogo de la DG tras Kubelik, Bernstein, Sinopoli, Abbado ¿El siguiente Dudamel?

Moreno escribió:

¿Pero este Das Klagende Lied de Boulez no había salido ya a la venta?...

Psanquin escribió:Uno más en el católogo de la DG tras Kubelik, Bernstein, Sinopoli, Abbado ¿El siguiente Dudamel?

Uno más con matices. Este ciclo de Pierre Boulez es el primero verdaderamente completo. Rafael Kubelik no grabó para el sello amarillo el Todtenfeier, Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Rückert-Lieder, Kindertotenlieder, Das Lied von der Erde y Das Klagende Lied. Leonard Bernstein se dejó el Todtenfeier y el DKL. A Giuseppe Sinopoli la faltó el susodicho Todtenfeier, parte de los DKW y los Rückert-Lieder. Y por último a Claudio Abbado, que todavía podría seguir grabando para el sello amarillo, no tiene registrado el Todtenfeier, LEFG, Kindertotenlieder, Das Lied von der Erde y Das KLagende Lied.

Crítica muy elogiosa, publicada hoy en www.musicweb-intrenational.com, y firmada por John Quinn, sobre la reciente Sexta dirigida por Simone Young y publicada en el sello Oehms (y que nos anunció Roebrtino en septiembre pasado en este mismo hilo)

Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 6 in A minor (1903-05) [85:10]
Philharmoniker Hamburg/Simone Young
rec. live, 22-23 April 2007, Laeiszhalle, Hamburg DDD
OEHMS CLASSICS OC413 [40:59 + 44:11]



I’ve heard one or two discs by Simone Young and her Hamburg orchestra before and I’ve been impressed. Those were of Bruckner symphonies - the Second (review) and the Fourth (review) - but I’ve not previously heard her in Mahler (my colleague Dan Morgan was very impressed with her Resurrection symphony - see review). I was a little surprised to fine Oehms issuing this set when they’re in the middle of a complete cycle of the symphonies with Markus Stenz but then I saw that the recording was made over five years ago. I wonder why such a fine performance has been ‘in the can’ for so long.

Over the years there has been quite a debate about the ordering of the middle two movements of this symphony. Most, though not all, performances I’ve heard have placed the scherzo second but Simone Young is one of those who plays that movement after the Andante moderato. In so doing she follows the ordering which, it seems, Mahler himself came to prefer; even though he originally intended the scherzo to come second he changed his mind prior to giving the first performance, at which he placed the slow movement second. This is not the time or place to go into this question; the arguments are rehearsed by Tony Duggan in his survey of recordings of the work. Like Tony I prefer to hear the scherzo second but I recognise and respect the views of those who think to the contrary and, as Tony said, it has to be left to each conductor to make the choice.

The recording is from concert performances, though there’s no audience noise - would that British audiences were so silent! - and there’s no applause at the end. The performance gripped - and held - my attention from the outset. I like Simone Young’s basic tempo in I: it’s expertly judged and neither too fast nor too slow. That of itself makes an immediately favourable impression. The orchestra makes a good sound, which is well reported by the engineers. The exposition repeat is taken, as most conductors do nowadays, and the performance is characterised by good energy and rhythmic definition. There’s one small thing that puzzles me. At 12:08, just before the cowbells interlude, the violins seem to drop out of the picture momentarily. It’s over and gone in a second and I wonder if something went slightly awry in the editing. The nostalgic cowbells passage that follows is very atmospheric, though perhaps taken just a fraction too slowly. However, the relaxed pacing gives us the chance to admire some excellent solo woodwind work. The principal horn also excels hereabouts and in many other solo passages during the work. Indeed, the whole horn section, so crucial in this symphony, is on tip-top form throughout. After this dreamy passage, when the tempo picks up again (15:47) the music fairly bounds along and from here until the end the performance is thrusting and dramatic.

The Andante moderato is beautifully sung. The passages of lyrical nostalgia come over very well but later on so, too, do the moments of ardour. The playing is excellent; the string tone is consistently pleasing and there is much fine woodwind work. I find Simone Young’s way with this movement very persuasive: there’s lots of gentle calm but when the temperature of the music rises (for example from 11:56) she brings out the passion - and the insecurity? - that Mahler put into those pages.

She invests the scherzo with just the right amount of weight; sufficient to bring out the dark side of the music but not so much as to compromise the sparkiness of the sardonic side of things. As in the first movement, there’s excellent rhythmic definition and good use is made of accents to characterise the music. One advantage of hearing the scherzo third is that as it reaches its end the music dissolves into fragments and eventually stutters to a halt in the depths. Thus it bridges to the sepulchral stirrings at the start of the finale.

In this last, massive movement Simone Young may not quite plumb the emotional depths that, say, Klaus Tennstedt explores (review) but, then, his reading is wholly exceptional and may not be to all tastes. As it is, I think Ms. Young hands the enormous span of this movement very well indeed. Her tempi are well judged and she inspires the orchestra to play with huge commitment - and precision. The brass, in particular, seem tireless in the face of Mahler’s huge demands on them. The first two hammer blows (12:01 and 17:45) are the occasion of massive climaxes, as they should be, and the way in which the ground is prepared for each of them is very impressive. In the four or five minutes that lead up to the third hammer blow (27:54) the music seethes and boils yet the conductor clearly retains tight control. Yes, I did refer to a third hammer blow. Mahler excised that from the score after conducting the first performance, slightly re-orchestrating at that point. In the booklet it says that “like other Mahler interpreters” Simone Young restores the third blow. There’s a clear implication in that phraseology that this is common practice but in my experience not many conductors do include the third blow. I have no strong feelings on the matter, though I would just observe in passing that it seems a little inconsistent to observe Mahler’s last thoughts in respect of the ordering of the middle movement but not to do so in respect of this hammer blow. The coda (from 28:37) is bleak and gaunt, bringing to an end a very convincing reading of the finale and a very fine performance of the symphony as a whole.

The recording reproduced very well on my equipment and seemed to me to convey the orchestra’s sound with clarity, impact and atmosphere. I’ve had some reservations about the recorded sound on a couple of Oehms’ Mahler recordings for Markus Stenz, notably those of the First (review) and Fourth symphonies (review), where I felt that for all the excellent clarity of the sound there was occasionally an insufficiently realistic concert hall perspective and the listener was placed a bit too close to the orchestra. There are no such issues here. The sound has punch, when required, and presence; I felt as if I had a very good seat in the hall. Yet, interestingly, the same technical team of producer Jens Schünemann and engineer Christian Feldgen is responsible both for this recording and for the Stenz series. Perhaps the Hamburg Laeiszhalle offers a more sympathetic acoustic than the Kölner Philharmonie or perhaps the presence of an audience, which changes the sound properties of a hall, has made a difference.

Simone Young’s Mahler Sixth enters a crowded field - in the booklet we learn that, according to one discography 42 recordings of the piece were issued between 2000 and 2012, which is exactly the same number that were issued in the thirty years following the symphony’s first recording in 1952, which, by the way, was made by Charles Adler. Not only is the field crowded, but also there are some exceptionally fine recordings in the catalogue already. It would be well-nigh impossible to nominate a “best” and I’m not even going to try but this Simone Young recording can stand comparison with most. It’s a distinguished issue.

Read more: http://musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Feb13/Mahler_sy6_OC413.htm#ixzz2JwGU9vNP

Ritter escribió:Crítica muy elogiosa, publicada hoy en www.musicweb-intrenational.com, y firmada por John Quinn, sobre la reciente Sexta dirigida por Simone Young y publicada en el sello Oehms (y que nos anunció Roebrtino en septiembre pasado en este mismo hilo)

... y de la que yo en su día también hablé, mucho antes que el Quinn este ¡qué se habrá creído este tal John!... no, no, no, que sepa que aquí, en este foro, somos los primeros, hombreeeeeee!!! ¿No me habrás copiado caro Quinn? Por cierto, que luego de meses no me arrepiento de nada, tremenda Sexta, ¡¡¡Aprende Boulez!!!... por aquí mi pequeña impresión en el hilo correspondiente:

https://gustav-mahler.foroactivo.com.es/t99p840-que-estamos-escuchando