Mahler AGAIN?! Recordings of Tragic symphony

For those who wants to purchase recordings of Mahler's Sixth Symphony entitled "Tragic" (especially in light of recent MPO performance by Claus Peter Flor) here are my rundowns on recordings I heard so far:














Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti (Decca).

This was my very first recording of this symphony, bought from Tower Records at neat RM 34.90. Decently played, the Finale thrilling but not quite in the league as the two MPO performances by Bakels and Peter Flor. The hammerblows sounded as if twacked from a bass drum. Better investment elsewhere.














Leonard Bernstein, Vienna Philharmonic (Deutsche Grammophon)


This is one recording I worship and a benchmark which others are judged. I have not listened to the earlier New York Philharmonic recording, but whoever says that one is superior to this should have their ears checked (we all know how hammy the NYPO recordings on Sony sounds anyway). A live recording that is stunningly and vividly captured, there are imperfections one must deal with first; an exaggerated and almost cheesy interpretation of Alma's theme, the trio of Scherzo ("Altvaterisch") crawls at a tortoise pace which sounds like a grandma doing tango just to name few. But the Viennese brasses are menacing and puts their CSO colleagues to shame. Listen to a howling cry on Viennese horn first few minutes into the Finale and also the way the brasses sustains tensions between the hammerblows at a superhuman stamina. I also like the cowbell effects which is a little more like muted clomps of coconut shells which is still more evocative than "tin kosong" clangings in other performances. No other performances of the Finale is as visceral and devastating as in this recording. In the coda, Bernstein swings an axe at our heads, and dump it into oblivion. It is that damned good.



Royal Concertgebouworkest, Riccardo Chailly(Decca)

My general complaint of Chailly's Mahler is too much polish on his Mahler and prefer the grit of Horenstein, Klemperer or even Bernstein. However this recording is exception, despite the first movement crawling at almost half an hour (or 25 mins roughly). But in Chailly's case his choice of tempi is convincing and RCO supplements it with much weight and dread. The wind department shows us again why they are the best Mahler orchestra in the world. The feel is roughly like Bernstein's recording with Vienna Philharmonic, but with less eccentric mannerisms we come accustomed with his conducting. If you only see this in your store, its worth every penny. The gorgeous Zemlinsky songs are a bonus.



Philharmonia Orchestra, Benjamin Zander (Telarc)


This recording is an audiophile Mahlernut's feast. There are numerous vivid details in that recording that are stunning and the hammerblows literally knock your socks off. However if you are accostomed to Bernstein like I do, you may want to ask "What is the fuss?". Bernstein may not be a literalist who follows everything that Mahler asks in the score, but there is no doubt who is a more superior Mahler conductor. It comes at whopping 3-cd package inclusive of an hour's lecture regarding the performance and the only recording which has two Finales, one the original with 3 hammerblows and the revised version with 2 hammerblows.




















WDR Symphony Orchestra, Köln/Dimitri Mitropoulos

Finally, this recording may be sonically inferior to the above, but no less visceral and unnerving as the best recordings out there. A live recording, the orchestra is pretty much what you expect in the 50s, not perfect. Worse are the absence of cowbells and only ONE hammerblow in the Finale (the bugger forgot his first Hammer cue). Still Mitropoulos' vision of this symphony is undisputable and the human drama depicted are unforgettable. The performance comes with Debussy's La mer, Berlioz' excerpts of Romeo and Juliet and Strauss' Dance of Seven Veils, all with New York Philharmonic and sounds very good in this Great Conductors of 20th century package.

The greatest Bruckner 5th symphony ever?

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) is regarded as one of the giants of late Romantic era, despite his limited output to merely ten symphonies (including a Symphony no. 0 or eleven including curiously numbered"00"), three masses, a string quartet and some number of minor works. Therefore like Mahler, Bruckner is well regarded as a symphonist. But while Mahler's vocation as a conducting maestro with ridiculously hectic schedule justified his output of works, Bruckner's case was "squandered" by numerous revisions to his symphonies due to his insecurities and attacks by the Pro-Brahms camp led by notorious Eduard Hanslick. Even so I may use a wrong word since some revisions did justice, particularly the transcendent Eighth symphony.

This legendary recording is much touted in music forums as those who listened it will proclaim it THE Bruckner 5th despite the numerous versions in market; Gunter Wand/Berlin PO (RCA), Harnoncourt/Vienna PO (RCA), Sinopoli/Dresden Staatskapelle (DG) and overrated Welser-Most/LondonPO (EMI). Conductor Eugen Jochum gave his last appearance with the Royal Concertgebouw before his demise at the same year and the occasion was recorded. Here this 2-CD set is sold by Tahra at a single-CD price but then these days your only problem would be finding it.

This is one of the most vividly captured live performance ever on record. It feels like you're in the Concertgebouw itself and every instrumental balance is natural save some moments if you feel like nitpicking, such as some horn textures not coming out enough (alas too easy to consult the score) but still, terrific . It doesn't feel "artificial" as in example of Decca's Concertgebouw recording where sometimes the halls resonance feels exaggerated. I think this a classic textbook reference for a superb live recording demonstration.

On to the performance. Maestro Eugen Jochum at this very last performance achieved a somehow Zen-outlook on music and his trademark flexibility evident in recordings is notably absent in this performance. Jochum takes a more traditional approach adopted by Karajan, Celibidache etc; broad tempi which comes with intense concentration and focus on long lines and overall architecture. From the first moments of the pizzicato of the Adagio, one feels Jochum takes a Celibidache-ian view of the work, with broad tempi and a sense of space by use of pauses and dynamics. When the orchestra plays the Allegro theme at bar 80, Jochum adds a subtle sforzandi effect which raises goosebumps in my skin. Throughout the whole performance, maestro Jochum's masterful control of long arches of phrasing and dynamics demonstrates a Brucknerian at peak of his art. You wouldn't believe for example, the string tremolos do their descrescendo at some places in this recording. At the beginning of Finale, listen to the strings recap the beginning of 1st movement. The way they dig their bows ala Berliners is jawdropping, you just need to listen yourself.

How is the legendary coda of the Finale that this recording boasts also "teh most orgasmic coda evar"? Here Jochum enforced the orchestra by adding "11 apostles" consisting of 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones and 1 bass tuba, which they enter from bar 583. The coda is also a culmination and the absolute Everest peak of this work, whom conductor Furtwangler proclaimed as the greatest coda ever conceived in a symphony. An Olympic feat for brass players, failing to sustain the momentous Coda of the Finale leaves some listeners feeling effects of "premature ejaculation" or feeling shortchanged after the 20 mins of intimidating double-fugue writing by Bruckner. There are pros and cons in this approach. For one, in lesser hands such as Frankly-Worst-Than-Most maybe, the brass "amplification" will stood out too much and the reversal of "premature ejaculation" is the feeling that the engineers abruptly tweaked the volume several notches up. Under Jochum, the purpose is simply to lessen the burden on the stamina of brasses and sustain the tension and energy until the closing bars. Nevertheless I still feel as if reinforcements of reserve brass battalions suddenly parachuted into Concertgebouw and blared their brasses at that moment, but after second listening the effect is still awesome.

Another shortcoming of this recording is the "Transfiguration" episode in Adagio, which I believe at the Recapitulation of that movement. Jochum took the tempi twice than what normal listeners would expect and despite terrific playing from the Concertgebouw players, the dirge was crawling too slowly for my taste and also despite the fact Jochum and his players managed to reached a stuning climax for this section of the Adagio before going to the Coda.

So in the end, the hype was a little bit disappointing for me. Not the perfect Bruckner 5 I've been waiting for but has this recording has the greatest playing of Bruckner 5 ever? I would not hesitate to say yes. The only recording to rival this in sheer terms of depth is Gunter Wand with Berlin Philharmonic, also live on RCA. This is still a disc every Brucknerite should listen in their lifetime.

Recording: 10

Technical: 10

Interpretation: 8