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Seán wrote:

DaveF wrote:Symphony No.7



This is probably the Mahler set that I play the least as I find the recordings a little thin and lacking a bit of omph! Having said that I really enjoyed it this evening. No.7 is one of my favorites anyway.

Shocked and stunned, it's probably my favourite cycle. Which cycle is your favourite Dave?

Dont get me wrong Seán I do think Kubeliks work is here is really good but I find the bass in the recording a bit weak and I do like a bit of omph there especially for Mahler. Having said that I found some very interesting aspects of the M7 here and I'll go back and listen to more of this set.

As for my favorite cycle, well I guess it would have to be Bernstein's early cycle with Sony/Columbia.

^^ what do either of you think of the Solti set? probably the favourite full round that I've heard... although if I was piecing together favourite versions of the 10 different symphonies, it would probably include 6 or 7 different conductors...

Jared wrote:^^ what do either of you think of the Solti set? probably the favourite full round that I've heard... although if I was piecing together favourite versions of the 10 different symphonies, it would probably include 6 or 7 different conductors...

I think its a great set myself although I dont like his famed M8 here. Now I like some Mahler symphonies with a bit of fire in the performance but Solti's M8 is driven too hard and maybe a bit too operatic. I really dislike it to be honest.

Seán wrote:

DaveF wrote:Symphony No.7



This is probably the Mahler set that I play the least as I find the recordings a little thin and lacking a bit of omph! Having said that I really enjoyed it this evening. No.7 is one of my favorites anyway.

Shocked and stunned, it's probably my favourite cycle. Which cycle is your favourite Dave?

I think the performances are great, but the recordings are not. I remember lusting after that set on LP when I spotted it in a record shop in Munich: at a bargain price, but the shop was closed and I was flying out the next day! Like many such things it didn't quite live up to expectations when I finally landed it on CD!

If I were only allowed one cycle then it would probably have to be Abbado, though that's not the way I think about Mahler at all! I also have high hopes for the emerging cycle from Markus Stenz!

DaveF wrote:

Jared wrote:^^ what do either of you think of the Solti set? probably the favourite full round that I've heard... although if I was piecing together favourite versions of the 10 different symphonies, it would probably include 6 or 7 different conductors...

I think its a great set myself although I dont like his famed M8 here. Now I like some Mahler symphonies with a bit of fire in the performance but Solti's M8 is driven too hard and maybe a bit too operatic. I really dislike it to be honest.

Solti's is probably my favourite Mahler 8. But then it was the one I first heard and I've had it since the early 80s and I still really love it. For a more modern recording Gergiev's SACD is excellent, with the massive acoustic of S. Paul's Cathedral, a thrilling example of what can be done in a modern live recording, and a performance of massive conviction!

Ciaran wrote: Solti's is probably my favourite Mahler 8. But then it was the one I first heard and I've had it since the early 80s and I still really love it. For a more modern recording Gergiev's SACD is excellent, with the massive acoustic of S. Paul's Cathedral, a thrilling example of what can be done in a modern live recording, and a performance of massive conviction!

I also like Solti's 8... I'm also quite fond of Sinopoli's too, although that doesn't get universal praise. Tennstedt's set is very uneven, but his No 8 is undoubtedly the highlight of the EMI boxset... just like his Beethoven 6 is his standout recording in that cycle...

I agree with Dave on the Kubelik set and in numerous head to heads over the years I have always preferred the Solti set over it.
Like Ciaran I also love that Abbado set but I greatly admire the Bernstein also. I do not know which I would take to the proverbial desert island!!

I enjoyed listening to this CD. The playing was very good and Little produced a lovely tone.

Good Haydn-playing from the ABQ:



Inspired by the discussion of Mahler 8:



Very enjoyable, though the soloists are not as good as Solti's (our own Ailish Tynan excepted, of course!). How wonderful Mahler's response is to Goethe's brilliant German words! What a pity the words don't come across that well in English. Some poets do, some don't: I always find Goethe very flat in English.

fergus wrote:

I enjoyed listening to this CD. The playing was very good and Little produced a lovely tone.

there is no doubt, Little has a particular flair for English repertoire... she was on BBC 4 a couple of weeks ago, performing the Elgar VC.. an excellent performance..