Symphony No. 8 / Adagio From Symphony No. 10
曲目リスト
ディスク: 1
1 | Symphony No. 10 - Adagio |
2 | Symphony No. 8 - Part I: Hymnus - Veni, creator spiritus |
3 | Accende lumen sensibus |
4 | Infunde amorem cordibus |
5 | Gloria Patri Domino |
ディスク: 2
1 | Symphony No. 8 - Part II: Poco Adagio |
2 | Waldung, sie schwankt heran |
3 | Ewiger Wonnebrand |
4 | Wie Felsenabgrund mir zu Füßen |
5 | Gerettet ist das edle Glied |
6 | Hier ist die Aussicht frei |
7 | Dir, der Unberührbaren |
8 | Du schwebst zu Höhen |
9 | Bei dem Bronn, zu dem schon weiland |
10 | Komm, hebe dich zu höhern Sphären |
11 | Blicket auf |
12 | Alles Vergängliche |
商品の説明
The San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas have won Grammy Awards for previous Mahler symphonies in this cycle. This one, with it's "chorus of 1000" should be a strong contender for the 3 awards it is nominated for: Best Classical Album, Best Choral Performance and Best Engineered Album.
登録情報
- メーカーにより製造中止になりました : いいえ
- 製品サイズ : 14.63 x 12.83 x 1.85 cm; 222.26 g
- メーカー : San Francisco Sym
- EAN : 0821936002124
- 商品モデル番号 : 1
- オリジナル盤発売日 : 2009
- レーベル : San Francisco Sym
- ASIN : B002HGCWCE
- ディスク枚数 : 2
- Amazon 売れ筋ランキング: - 495,812位ミュージック (ミュージックの売れ筋ランキングを見る)
- - 28,059位交響曲・管弦楽曲・協奏曲
- - 152,369位輸入盤
- カスタマーレビュー:
-
トップレビュー
上位レビュー、対象国: 日本
レビューのフィルタリング中に問題が発生しました。後でもう一度試してください。
2020年4月25日に日本でレビュー済み
Amazonで購入
CDケースと冊子がさらに紙製のケースに入っているのだが、この紙製のケースが破損していた。できる限り分かり難く補正されていたから気付かなかった。また、プラスティックのケースの方も中に入っている紙がケースに無理やり押し込められていて折れ曲がっていた。返品したいが、海外の出品者であるため、めんどくさく思いとどまっている。たぶん、過去に返品されたものを再ラッピングして送ってきたと思われる。ひど過ぎる。ここの出品者からは2度と購入しない。amazonが販売・配送するものを選択するべきでした。ホント頭にきた。
他の国からのトップレビュー
domdup
5つ星のうち3.0
Fade et sans vie.
2022年1月31日にフランスでレビュー済みAmazonで購入
Tout semble en place dans cette interprétation de la 8e de Mahler. Pourtant, le soin apporté à la direction de M. Tilson-Thomas va malheureusement nuire à cette version qui manque cruellement de spontanéité, d'enthousiasme, de jubilation. L'énorme dispositif musical lorgne vers la musique de chambre ( un comble!), et le propos élégant fini par paraître fade, dévitalisé. Ozawa, Kubelik, Sinopoli, où êtes-vous ?
NUC MED TECH
5つ星のうち5.0
Lavish Mahler from MTT/SFSO----in Super Audio
2014年3月14日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
03-14-2014 Yesterday, was a historic day, for me, as I bought my first CD conducted by the Music Director of the very fine San Francisco symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas. I have not been coy about Mr. Thomas on these pages, As I have, and still consider him, fabulously ordinary---mundane and unadventurous. Here is a man who seems to be obsessed with the triumverate of Stravinsky, Copland, and Gershwin. A golden boy doubt, he has risen in the ranks of Classical Music, for whatever reasons I do not know, perhaps good connections? I simply can't say, but I am, and have always been skeptical. I have NEVER been impressed with his conducting, now even more than earler in his career. But-----How to listen to this very fine and excellent American Orchestra without also hearing MTT? I have finally decided to "bite-the-bullit" and buy one of his releases, this Mahler 10th and 8th on the Orchestra's house label, and in Super Audio. Mahler is great Symphonic music, even if he is overdone, he still moves and inspires the listener. I decided to take a chance and, and, so far, I am amazed.
The 10th Symphony's story is one that everybody should know by now, and MTT is one of the majority of conductors who feels the Adagio only, IS the Symphony, making a "completed performing version" unnecessary. I do not agree, but I still think there is a good argument for playing and recording only the Adagio, so let's look at just that. MTT's Adagio runs a leisurely 27:41 and, in a word, is quite rapturous and eloquent. Separating one's take from the actual music itself can be tricky, and fraught with an endless dichotomy of subjectivism vs objectivism. Here these two points of view add to the discussion of the 10th as in few other recordings. This music, intended as only the opening of a projected mammoth Symphony, is really just a point of departure for Mahler as he seeks the Adagio's reconciliation harmonically ,and the Symphony's total message artistically and psychologically.
His frame of mind at the time of composition was a complicated array of good and not so good. For instance, he had recently resigned his post as Music Director of the Vienna Court Opera, after 10 years of both high productivity and controversy. he was both resented and adored but, objectively, he had produced, in Vienna, 10 of the most radiant years of music. We now, look back on the 'Golden Age" of Vienna Opera, as those years, 1897-1907. his 4 yerar old daughter, Maria, had died a hard and excruciating death in 1906, and the composer was also diagnosed with what would be called CHF, Conjective Heart Failure, where the Cardio-Pulmonary system fails to efficiently move oxyhenated blood well enougfh so as to avoid edema, swelling, generally of the extremities. Hence, trhe patient "drowns" in his own fluids, slowly as his energy is sapped, and he dies a slow and agonizing death. And, if that weren't enough, Mahler had evidence, in his hand, of an affair between Alma and a young architect, Walter Gropius.
In a letter mistakenly addressed to Mahler instead of Alma, the two adulterers wanted a divorce so they could marry, but Mahler never stopped loving his unfaithful and flirtatious wife, and indeed etched a closing phrase on the masnuscipt copy of the music, professing his eternal love for her. Hearbreaking stuff, no doubt and certainly something that influenced his writing of this poignant and touching music. When conducting this work, Thomas undoubtedly, was thinking of these things and experiencing an emotional response that sure comes out in his reading, how could he not? How can WE not when listening to it?
The beautiful tone of the SFSO strings simply took my breath away and the crying out of the mournful Horns added to the atmosphere. MTT has judged them to be quite powerful and attention grabbing, and I concur with this. This is bold personal music, which the composer did not wish to keep private but tell the whole world what he feels. I wonder, IF he were to record the Cooke II version, how he would approach it. Could be quite good or puzzling.
A few points in the score and my reactions follows. In the 6th to 7th minutes, the strings stretch for the heavens with a cleanliness that sounds super-human. The sweetness of their tone transports the listener to another dimension. And, anywhere that Mahler calls for pizzicato, the strings oblige with the actual sound of the wood of the instrument's body and the true string vibrations. This recording put Super Audio in perspective for me, as the grandure of the opening pipe organ, at FFF was just as wonderful as the several pizzicatti scattered throughout this work. The clarity of this music is truly astounding, and I could hardly believe my ears. How can I ever be satisfied with simple stereo from now on?
The huge orchestral cathasrsis, in the form of a tutti at FFF level, bursts forth at the Mark and hit me right between the eyes, as it always has, but even more so in this great audio format. Well worth the price of the CD, I am already forgetting the sticker shock and recalling a golden rule, "you get what you pay for." Boy, and how!! I paid $12.88 for these two CDs and would of paid more, if forced to. Too bad, collectors can't get longer samples than 60 seconds on this site, as they would surely sell more disks. The big moment in this reading is the tremendous, devastating catharsis starting at 19:16 and running through to about the 20:03 point or so and the luckiest folks on Earth are those who've never in their lives heard this passage before. I can't imagine their reactions. . It is overwhelming, to bed blunt. the ensuing recovery gets the tenderest of care from MTT and words are totally unnecessary at this point. I felt pinned back in my seat as I always do, but even more so with MTT's admirable treatment .
Overall then, this is a very, very good 10th Adagio and one I could listen to for many years to come.
The chief reasaon I bought this SFSO 2 CD set from 2008 of the Mahler 8th Symphony in E-Flat Major with soloists and the SFSO Chorus and childrens choruses from the Bay Area. Since there is so much to cover in this part of my review, I 'll get tright to the point with my two gripes, and trhen praise this work and admit I hadn't given MTT enough credit for being, at least in this singular work a con ductor of talent and inspirriration. My quibbles are as follows. Number One, the very sound of the tenor soloist's voice is very much not to my liking. I has a deep and some3what snarly sound to it, something I can't quite put my finger on, but I did not like it at all. I do recall a visit to The Ravinia Festival in Chicago, back in 2004 where, in 1974, at Opening Night, I had proposed to the beautiful girl that became my wife of nearly 40 years, WOW, 40 years, Poor girl!(L.O.L.). The tenor in 2004 was Vinson Cole, who has a lighter lryical voice but suitible fot the work in ths Mahler 8th. But, not Mr. Anthony Dean Griffey. the other problem is the frequent stops between some of the tracks in part II of the Symphony. I don't know the reason for them, and they last only a second or two, but they Do provide an interruption, I found annoying. these arfe nmot stops for dramatic effect, but dead stops of total silence, perhaps to mark the break between tracks more cleanly, I don't know. However, the great majority of this performance is really quite beautiful and impressive.
The opening of the Symphony is the grand FFF Allegro " Veni, creator spiritus," with full forces, pipe organ et al, in a resonanct Daivies Hall. As the SFSO quickly hits it's full stride in this opening Allegro, we first reach a point, at precisecly the 03:37 mark where the trumpet give us a rapid "machine-gun" flourishof spinetingling speed and virtuosity. Also of much note are the ultra crisp and clean cymbal crashes and thunderous timpani that roars like a lion over the very loud orchestra. These are probably "splash" cynbals, and they are likely 20 or so inches , but they sound as if they are a meter across! MTT slows the arm y of musicianns down at the proper places in the score with firm, and very effective skill, which pleased me much. Even before we've reached the 10 minute mark, I am filled with admiration for the sound of this splendid Chorus, and superb Orchestra. They truly aer as good as I recall from our live con cert attendances when Blomstedt came to town each Spring.
The long development section, keying off from the "accende lumen sensibus," is a rousing traversal of the Mahler sound world that pinned me back in my recliner with glee. WOW!! The spectacular and celebratory "Gloria Patri spiritu, etc" starting at 00:15 in track #5 pushes us into the ascending staircase" dash to the glorious and otherworldly and levitating climax with the orchestra, chorus and even groups of brass, and the horns, I believe including the off stage trumpets and trombones in a magnificent rising scale that overwhelms the senses with celestial splendor. The absolute BEST rendition of this very tiny detail, yet a thrilling one, nonetheless, is in the Shaw Telarc recording just before the final crashing notes that end the first movement. I refer you to the exact time range of 02:05 thru to exactly 02:14 and ending, seconds later at precisely 02:21. A thousand WOWs!! Absolutely Heaven-Storming!!!
Part II opens with the strong and deeply moving full string orchestra melody , that sets the stage for the final scene from the Faust drama Mahler envisioned, and now begins and developsall ther way to the Symphony's ending, some 65 minutes later. this is one of the longer Part IIs on record and MTT's deliberate statelty pace is welcome and effective. The Maestro milks this music for all it has in long, grand lines flowwing like a reverent procession towards the powerful conclusion. Along ther way, Mahlerf bathes us in wave after wave of rapturous sound that repeatedly takes our breath away, as if the current moment couldn't be topped, but it is, over and again. As I have said often, a very good orchestra sounds wonderful at high volume and ffast tempo, but only the great ones can pull it off in the ppp passages at the slowest tempi. This is exactly what these San Franciscans do, and they are nothing short of
amazing.
We will hear better individual singers in other recordings, more so with Chailly, Shaw and, most natably, in Solti's landmark 1971 reading from Vienna, with his hall of fame soloist roster, but Thomas's are fine, nonetheless, just lacking in the extra power and creditbility. Sir George's recording, after all, was really a mini-Opera performance with the likes of the Singverierien of Vienna and the CSO Chorus and some of the continents finestndiviual voices, all flown to Vienna for this recording the heavy-hitters providing the muscle. As I said earlier, the tenor Anthony Dean Griffey's voice lacks something, perhaps the difficult to attain mix of lyricism and heldentenor quality, much of which is natural, and not learned, perhaps, and maybe I am asking too much, but Doctor Marianus is a tough role to pull off and he does fall short, I am afraid to say. Thed ladies are all passable and i thought the principal soprano, Erin Wahl, acquitted herself the best of the group . The Childrens choirs are, of course, sublime in their diction and intonation with their delicate ytoung voices seasonming the mists of the musical ether mahler has created. He always had a particularly tender consideration for young singers and his tender and doting attention to them is lovingly rendered by Thomas.
Fo0r me, the crowning moments of this great masterpiece
The 10th Symphony's story is one that everybody should know by now, and MTT is one of the majority of conductors who feels the Adagio only, IS the Symphony, making a "completed performing version" unnecessary. I do not agree, but I still think there is a good argument for playing and recording only the Adagio, so let's look at just that. MTT's Adagio runs a leisurely 27:41 and, in a word, is quite rapturous and eloquent. Separating one's take from the actual music itself can be tricky, and fraught with an endless dichotomy of subjectivism vs objectivism. Here these two points of view add to the discussion of the 10th as in few other recordings. This music, intended as only the opening of a projected mammoth Symphony, is really just a point of departure for Mahler as he seeks the Adagio's reconciliation harmonically ,and the Symphony's total message artistically and psychologically.
His frame of mind at the time of composition was a complicated array of good and not so good. For instance, he had recently resigned his post as Music Director of the Vienna Court Opera, after 10 years of both high productivity and controversy. he was both resented and adored but, objectively, he had produced, in Vienna, 10 of the most radiant years of music. We now, look back on the 'Golden Age" of Vienna Opera, as those years, 1897-1907. his 4 yerar old daughter, Maria, had died a hard and excruciating death in 1906, and the composer was also diagnosed with what would be called CHF, Conjective Heart Failure, where the Cardio-Pulmonary system fails to efficiently move oxyhenated blood well enougfh so as to avoid edema, swelling, generally of the extremities. Hence, trhe patient "drowns" in his own fluids, slowly as his energy is sapped, and he dies a slow and agonizing death. And, if that weren't enough, Mahler had evidence, in his hand, of an affair between Alma and a young architect, Walter Gropius.
In a letter mistakenly addressed to Mahler instead of Alma, the two adulterers wanted a divorce so they could marry, but Mahler never stopped loving his unfaithful and flirtatious wife, and indeed etched a closing phrase on the masnuscipt copy of the music, professing his eternal love for her. Hearbreaking stuff, no doubt and certainly something that influenced his writing of this poignant and touching music. When conducting this work, Thomas undoubtedly, was thinking of these things and experiencing an emotional response that sure comes out in his reading, how could he not? How can WE not when listening to it?
The beautiful tone of the SFSO strings simply took my breath away and the crying out of the mournful Horns added to the atmosphere. MTT has judged them to be quite powerful and attention grabbing, and I concur with this. This is bold personal music, which the composer did not wish to keep private but tell the whole world what he feels. I wonder, IF he were to record the Cooke II version, how he would approach it. Could be quite good or puzzling.
A few points in the score and my reactions follows. In the 6th to 7th minutes, the strings stretch for the heavens with a cleanliness that sounds super-human. The sweetness of their tone transports the listener to another dimension. And, anywhere that Mahler calls for pizzicato, the strings oblige with the actual sound of the wood of the instrument's body and the true string vibrations. This recording put Super Audio in perspective for me, as the grandure of the opening pipe organ, at FFF was just as wonderful as the several pizzicatti scattered throughout this work. The clarity of this music is truly astounding, and I could hardly believe my ears. How can I ever be satisfied with simple stereo from now on?
The huge orchestral cathasrsis, in the form of a tutti at FFF level, bursts forth at the Mark and hit me right between the eyes, as it always has, but even more so in this great audio format. Well worth the price of the CD, I am already forgetting the sticker shock and recalling a golden rule, "you get what you pay for." Boy, and how!! I paid $12.88 for these two CDs and would of paid more, if forced to. Too bad, collectors can't get longer samples than 60 seconds on this site, as they would surely sell more disks. The big moment in this reading is the tremendous, devastating catharsis starting at 19:16 and running through to about the 20:03 point or so and the luckiest folks on Earth are those who've never in their lives heard this passage before. I can't imagine their reactions. . It is overwhelming, to bed blunt. the ensuing recovery gets the tenderest of care from MTT and words are totally unnecessary at this point. I felt pinned back in my seat as I always do, but even more so with MTT's admirable treatment .
Overall then, this is a very, very good 10th Adagio and one I could listen to for many years to come.
The chief reasaon I bought this SFSO 2 CD set from 2008 of the Mahler 8th Symphony in E-Flat Major with soloists and the SFSO Chorus and childrens choruses from the Bay Area. Since there is so much to cover in this part of my review, I 'll get tright to the point with my two gripes, and trhen praise this work and admit I hadn't given MTT enough credit for being, at least in this singular work a con ductor of talent and inspirriration. My quibbles are as follows. Number One, the very sound of the tenor soloist's voice is very much not to my liking. I has a deep and some3what snarly sound to it, something I can't quite put my finger on, but I did not like it at all. I do recall a visit to The Ravinia Festival in Chicago, back in 2004 where, in 1974, at Opening Night, I had proposed to the beautiful girl that became my wife of nearly 40 years, WOW, 40 years, Poor girl!(L.O.L.). The tenor in 2004 was Vinson Cole, who has a lighter lryical voice but suitible fot the work in ths Mahler 8th. But, not Mr. Anthony Dean Griffey. the other problem is the frequent stops between some of the tracks in part II of the Symphony. I don't know the reason for them, and they last only a second or two, but they Do provide an interruption, I found annoying. these arfe nmot stops for dramatic effect, but dead stops of total silence, perhaps to mark the break between tracks more cleanly, I don't know. However, the great majority of this performance is really quite beautiful and impressive.
The opening of the Symphony is the grand FFF Allegro " Veni, creator spiritus," with full forces, pipe organ et al, in a resonanct Daivies Hall. As the SFSO quickly hits it's full stride in this opening Allegro, we first reach a point, at precisecly the 03:37 mark where the trumpet give us a rapid "machine-gun" flourishof spinetingling speed and virtuosity. Also of much note are the ultra crisp and clean cymbal crashes and thunderous timpani that roars like a lion over the very loud orchestra. These are probably "splash" cynbals, and they are likely 20 or so inches , but they sound as if they are a meter across! MTT slows the arm y of musicianns down at the proper places in the score with firm, and very effective skill, which pleased me much. Even before we've reached the 10 minute mark, I am filled with admiration for the sound of this splendid Chorus, and superb Orchestra. They truly aer as good as I recall from our live con cert attendances when Blomstedt came to town each Spring.
The long development section, keying off from the "accende lumen sensibus," is a rousing traversal of the Mahler sound world that pinned me back in my recliner with glee. WOW!! The spectacular and celebratory "Gloria Patri spiritu, etc" starting at 00:15 in track #5 pushes us into the ascending staircase" dash to the glorious and otherworldly and levitating climax with the orchestra, chorus and even groups of brass, and the horns, I believe including the off stage trumpets and trombones in a magnificent rising scale that overwhelms the senses with celestial splendor. The absolute BEST rendition of this very tiny detail, yet a thrilling one, nonetheless, is in the Shaw Telarc recording just before the final crashing notes that end the first movement. I refer you to the exact time range of 02:05 thru to exactly 02:14 and ending, seconds later at precisely 02:21. A thousand WOWs!! Absolutely Heaven-Storming!!!
Part II opens with the strong and deeply moving full string orchestra melody , that sets the stage for the final scene from the Faust drama Mahler envisioned, and now begins and developsall ther way to the Symphony's ending, some 65 minutes later. this is one of the longer Part IIs on record and MTT's deliberate statelty pace is welcome and effective. The Maestro milks this music for all it has in long, grand lines flowwing like a reverent procession towards the powerful conclusion. Along ther way, Mahlerf bathes us in wave after wave of rapturous sound that repeatedly takes our breath away, as if the current moment couldn't be topped, but it is, over and again. As I have said often, a very good orchestra sounds wonderful at high volume and ffast tempo, but only the great ones can pull it off in the ppp passages at the slowest tempi. This is exactly what these San Franciscans do, and they are nothing short of
amazing.
We will hear better individual singers in other recordings, more so with Chailly, Shaw and, most natably, in Solti's landmark 1971 reading from Vienna, with his hall of fame soloist roster, but Thomas's are fine, nonetheless, just lacking in the extra power and creditbility. Sir George's recording, after all, was really a mini-Opera performance with the likes of the Singverierien of Vienna and the CSO Chorus and some of the continents finestndiviual voices, all flown to Vienna for this recording the heavy-hitters providing the muscle. As I said earlier, the tenor Anthony Dean Griffey's voice lacks something, perhaps the difficult to attain mix of lyricism and heldentenor quality, much of which is natural, and not learned, perhaps, and maybe I am asking too much, but Doctor Marianus is a tough role to pull off and he does fall short, I am afraid to say. Thed ladies are all passable and i thought the principal soprano, Erin Wahl, acquitted herself the best of the group . The Childrens choirs are, of course, sublime in their diction and intonation with their delicate ytoung voices seasonming the mists of the musical ether mahler has created. He always had a particularly tender consideration for young singers and his tender and doting attention to them is lovingly rendered by Thomas.
Fo0r me, the crowning moments of this great masterpiece
Roberto Dell'Acqua
5つ星のうち4.0
Buona
2014年9月19日にイタリアでレビュー済みAmazonで購入
Ottima registrazione e buona interpretazione. Io preferisco la versione Telarc, ma anche questa non è male, soprattutto nella versione SACD
Mr. Gareth Williams
5つ星のうち3.0
Good conducting- bad music!
2014年2月4日に英国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
Recorded sound decent enough, choir a bit recessed, soloists adequate- especially the ladies. This is- let's be honest- Mahler at his very worst, portentous and overblown with choral writing which is raw, amateurish and crude.
Yes- I have at least six recordings so I have tried to get the message but it just does not work for me. I feel like I am the one who realizes that the emperor has no clothes. Still, if you are in doubt- shout as the maxim goes. This performance evidently does not shout loud enough to convince even those who like the music.
Yes- I have at least six recordings so I have tried to get the message but it just does not work for me. I feel like I am the one who realizes that the emperor has no clothes. Still, if you are in doubt- shout as the maxim goes. This performance evidently does not shout loud enough to convince even those who like the music.
Prescott Cunningham Moore
5つ星のうち4.0
Absolutely nothing new here, it is about Thomas, not Mahler - great playing and singing though
2009年9月2日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
I won't go as far as saying he has become eccentric, but with every passing year Michael Tilson Thomas seems to become more and more interested in making his presence felt in every possible sense of the word. His gestures are overly exaggerated, he interests himself by adding his own interpretive graffiti to basically every measure of any score, he even has, for lack of a better term, canned antics that he routine performs, such as talking with players during performances or kicking his feet at the audience when someone coughs too loudly. That should tell you what to expect during this, his fourth San Francisco performance of this symphony and his second recorded effort for the cycle - the first was universally touted as unsuccessful, even by the bay-area press that usually waxes poetic about their music director.
But first with the good. The orchestra is in top form, as we have come to expect from this cycle as a whole. The singing is equally fine; indeed, this cavalcade of soloists is one of the better casts in recent memory. On whole, the women tend to fare better than the men in Part I, while the opposite is true in Part II. The various chorus, especially the Pacific Boy Choir, are equally impressive. However, the problems rest entirely at the feet of the conductor.
Having already explained in detail my distaste for Thomas's unnecessary, fussy, and distracting use of rubatto in previous reviews of this cycle, I will only state that Thomas takes every interpretive pit stop during Part II, pausing here, manipulating tempo there, all the while making his presence felt more so than Mahler himself. He fails to let go of control at climaxes, which keeps the orchestra in check at exactly the time when it should really play out. The final oration is in bad need of organ, is peppered with embarrassing intonation problems obviously cased by Thomas's heavy hand, and has neither the earth-shattering quality of Solti nor the arrival-at-heaven's-gate exuberance of Nagano. Part I fares better, if only because Thomas has a keen sense of Mahler's counterpuntal writing, a trait that made the Finale of his otherwise lukewarm Fifth Symphony quite delightful. Still, Thomas's perfectly balanced Part I, while beautiful, falls short of Wit's even more incisive energy, the deliberate beauty of Chailly, or the overwhelming logic of Bertini.
This review might seem overly short, considering this is the capstone to an almost decade-long symphony cycle, but anyone who has been collecting Thomas's thoughts on Mahler knows exactly what to expect here. It's all about the conductor. Still, the playing and singing is top-notch, and, while it may not displace some of the great Eighths, Bernstein, Chailly, Bertini, Nagano, Wit, and Solti to name a few, it will undoubtedly please fans of this conductor to no end and entertain aficionados of this, Mahler's most expansive symphony, who are interested in how Thomas plays with Mahler's intentions.
All in all, the cycle as a whole is a mixed bag. The highpoint was a glorious Fourth, that was stunning played by the orchestra and sung by Claycomb, and his wonderful Das Klagende Lied, recorded in the `90s, before Thomas really began adding rubatto to everything. The First, Second, and Ninth, while not perfect, were very close. The First and Second can handle more rubatto than the three Ruckert symphonies, so they fared relatively well under Thomas's heavy hands, while the Ninth was touchingly played and quite heartfelt. The Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh suffered from Thomas's unnecessary interference while the Third simply dragged to a close in an adagio that was stretch and pulled apart in every which direction. Das Lied was good, not great, due to voice casting while the Kindertotenlieder just never took off. It's a shame really, because not only was the orchestra always in top form, but Thomas had all the makings of becoming a truly great Mahlerian. His first efforts were always consistently better than his latter attempts. His London Symphony Seventh was really something, as was his Third, and the aforementioned Klagende Lied remains a reference for that work. But somehow, Thomas got lost along the way, thinking he knew better than Mahler as to how this music should sound. You be the judge. Still, great surface appeal, lots of excitement, just not much staying power.
But first with the good. The orchestra is in top form, as we have come to expect from this cycle as a whole. The singing is equally fine; indeed, this cavalcade of soloists is one of the better casts in recent memory. On whole, the women tend to fare better than the men in Part I, while the opposite is true in Part II. The various chorus, especially the Pacific Boy Choir, are equally impressive. However, the problems rest entirely at the feet of the conductor.
Having already explained in detail my distaste for Thomas's unnecessary, fussy, and distracting use of rubatto in previous reviews of this cycle, I will only state that Thomas takes every interpretive pit stop during Part II, pausing here, manipulating tempo there, all the while making his presence felt more so than Mahler himself. He fails to let go of control at climaxes, which keeps the orchestra in check at exactly the time when it should really play out. The final oration is in bad need of organ, is peppered with embarrassing intonation problems obviously cased by Thomas's heavy hand, and has neither the earth-shattering quality of Solti nor the arrival-at-heaven's-gate exuberance of Nagano. Part I fares better, if only because Thomas has a keen sense of Mahler's counterpuntal writing, a trait that made the Finale of his otherwise lukewarm Fifth Symphony quite delightful. Still, Thomas's perfectly balanced Part I, while beautiful, falls short of Wit's even more incisive energy, the deliberate beauty of Chailly, or the overwhelming logic of Bertini.
This review might seem overly short, considering this is the capstone to an almost decade-long symphony cycle, but anyone who has been collecting Thomas's thoughts on Mahler knows exactly what to expect here. It's all about the conductor. Still, the playing and singing is top-notch, and, while it may not displace some of the great Eighths, Bernstein, Chailly, Bertini, Nagano, Wit, and Solti to name a few, it will undoubtedly please fans of this conductor to no end and entertain aficionados of this, Mahler's most expansive symphony, who are interested in how Thomas plays with Mahler's intentions.
All in all, the cycle as a whole is a mixed bag. The highpoint was a glorious Fourth, that was stunning played by the orchestra and sung by Claycomb, and his wonderful Das Klagende Lied, recorded in the `90s, before Thomas really began adding rubatto to everything. The First, Second, and Ninth, while not perfect, were very close. The First and Second can handle more rubatto than the three Ruckert symphonies, so they fared relatively well under Thomas's heavy hands, while the Ninth was touchingly played and quite heartfelt. The Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh suffered from Thomas's unnecessary interference while the Third simply dragged to a close in an adagio that was stretch and pulled apart in every which direction. Das Lied was good, not great, due to voice casting while the Kindertotenlieder just never took off. It's a shame really, because not only was the orchestra always in top form, but Thomas had all the makings of becoming a truly great Mahlerian. His first efforts were always consistently better than his latter attempts. His London Symphony Seventh was really something, as was his Third, and the aforementioned Klagende Lied remains a reference for that work. But somehow, Thomas got lost along the way, thinking he knew better than Mahler as to how this music should sound. You be the judge. Still, great surface appeal, lots of excitement, just not much staying power.