Customer Reviews

Mahler: Symphony No. 10 ~ Harding

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Here for his debut on DG Daniel Harding competes on Simon Rattle's home ground. Rattle, too, was a rising star while quite young and made one of his early successes with the Mahler Tenth, a work he as gone on to conduct more than a hundred times, amazingly. Harding, however, was the first to introduce the whole work to the Vienna Phil, in 2004. Both conductors use the revised Deryck Cooke performing edition (the only one to gain wide acceptance in the concert hall), and both meet the challenge of making the Tenth sound like real, fleshed-out Mahler rather than a collection of sketches surroudning two completed movements. I'd say that Harding goes as far as Rattle in giving us a moving performance with every ounce of Mahler's complex tonal and emotional world, and in the bargain he is more freely expressive and involving.

Harding's intent to pull us in is evident from the first bars of the great Adagio, which he molds the way a gifted Chopin pianist molds a nocturne. Literalists will want to stay at home, needless to say, once they realize how flexible the tempo and phrasing are going to be. Harding doesn't press the line as fervently as Bernstein, and he's not as coolly technical as Abbado, Chailly, or Rattle in his second recording from Berlin. Harding's approach is almost purely emotive, aiming to wrap us in a spell that will hold through the rougher, skimpier patches to come.

The Vienna Philharmonic is the perfect ensemble for him, given its effortless expressivity, although DG's slightly tubby, resonant recording could be cleaner. Another notable thing about Harding's style is its soft grain; he eschews sudden explosions and eruptions, preferrring a seamless line a la Karajan (a name I'm invoking in a positive sense). The overall effect is eloquent rather than searingly tragic -- a justifibale course, if an unusual one. An immediate payoff is that the Scherzo isn't a letdown coming after the Adagio, and Harding further amplifies it as full-blooded Mahler with a great deal of variety in the playing; it feels not at all like a scketch.

Purgatorio, an enigmatic movement but fully completed by Mahler, isn't as biting or stark in Harding's hands as in Rattle's, and again the lively, full-bodied playing of the Vienna Phil. holds your attention in every bar. Harding's romantic surges are a personal touch that I feel add a new dimension to the climax. (Sticklers will accuse him of taffy-puling.) The second Scherzo gains in power, and by this time the listener realizes that Harding is trying to draw a single arc through the symphony, building to a catharsis in the finale. That's why he soft-pedaled the opening Adagio and gives this later Scherzo such force.

Here as elsewhere there's great attention to variety of tone and changing mood. I can't say that anyone has done that part of the Tenth better, even the virtuosic Chailly on Decca. The vexed drumbeats msut be noticed, I guess, even though they are no more than one detail in a massive score. I find hard thwacks jarring and take my cue from alma Mahler's anecdote that her husband was inspired by the muffled drums of a funeral procession heard down below their window in New York. Harding agrees and gtives us distant, powerful, but muffled thuds. For once, the transition between mvt. 4 and 5 isn't nerve-racking.

And so, does Harding succeed in making the finale, one of the barest movements, emotionally convincing in its starkness? I think so, because he expresses a postmortum elegy, haunating and removed -- a great composer is recasting the thrall of music after he's left this world. Compared to Rattle's, this account is warmer and less skeletal. I found myself listening with a catch in my throat.

In sum, the most outstanding Tenth since Rattle's and one of the best Mahler recordings in a long time.

P.S. 2011 - Since making this recording Harding seems to have been wandering in the wilderness for a while. After hearing a series of fairly uninspired concerts, I hope he finds a way to fulfill so much early promise.

Mahler 10 is one of my favorite symphonies, not just because it is 'beautiful music', but especially because it is so very different from anything Mahler ever created, I think. First of all I am drawn to this symphony (can one really 'love' this music?) because of the weird and wonderful, sometimes horrific, soundworld it inhibits - with its nervous unease but also desperate longing - and the dangerous flirtings with atonality and its bone chilling emotional implications: with Mahler, the atonal episodes (often forte or fortissimo) in his music surely stand for (sometimes utter) fear and despair ... Yes, this is music about loss and fear of death, but also it is music about the deepest possible passion for life and love!

If I may be allowed to compare this recording with one of my favorite recordings of this symphony, namely the one by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) under Sir Simon Rattle. This performance by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (VPO) under Daniel Harding is long breathed and flowing (at about the same playing times for all movements, compared to Rattle). The playing in the recording with the BPO under Rattle is more sharply accentuated, which has an emotonally jarring effect (which is indeed very appropriate, IMHO). The climaxes on this VPO recording are more gradually built up but at the same time powerful. The whole recording is characterized by a deep sense of coherence and 'flow' - a 'warmer', more enveloping sound too (an objective statement, because the somewhat more 'jittery' playing and the more directly recorded instruments - accentuating their individual timbres - on the BPO/Rattle recording is an utter success, to my ears). While Daniel Harding paints the aural canvas with a grand chiaroscuro tableau, Simon Rattle could be said to more accentuate the jarringly modernist or expressionist aspects of Mahler's Tenth Symphony.
Luckily, like Rattle, Daniel Harding uses only one stroke on the muffled bass drum to end movement IV, from which the uneasy, grimm beginnings of the Finale can start off without further ado. And luckily, the drum-stroke is not fortissimo for 'dramatic effect', but forte (or is it piano?), so as not to contast too much with the dull and dark beginnings of the Finale. We don't have to overstate the case here: we are in a certain 'death' mood at the very beginning already, so we don't have to hammer it down with the bass drum too, I think. From this 'death' mood, the music slowly climbs out of the horror, while along the way reliving all the experiences we have come across earlier in the course of the symphony, the music of longing and love gaining the upper hand and ending the symphony not just in a sigh of longing but in a final shout of love to the world (and Alma) ...
Some reviewers have stated that this performance, with its flowing legato playing, gives it an extra sense of coherency that belies the sketchy origin of the notes. But I myself believe that both recordings - by Harding as well as Rattle - are convincing creations of this music. My personal favorite remains the BPO/Rattle, but this recording is a masterful and eloquent addition to the ever growing Mahler 10 discography. If you love Mahler's Tenth Symphony, then you should at least sample this recording. Highly recommended.

OK, other reviewers have gone on and on about the Vienna factor. What I think is remarkable, is how UNLIKE this sounds like the day-to-day VPO in Mahler. Their response is far sharper; more rhythmic; more fleet than usual - particularly in the middle three movements. Compare this to the marmoreal sounding Maazel performances - not to mention the Abbado/VPO M9/M10 Adagio - and you'll hear a world of difference! Another big difference is in the sound quality.

Most recordings made in Vienna's shoe-box shaped Musikverein, have come from live sources. This must be a studio recording. This is the first recording of a major work played by the VPO that can begin to approach the sonic results that they regularly used to get, "back in the day", at the old Sofiensaal (eventually burnt down). Sonically speaking, this is far better than what you hear on either the Kaplan or Boulez Mahler "Resurrection" recordings, for example. Point is, the sound is excellent.

Here's another "Vienna factor": the 10th - especially in the Cooke edition - has always sounded a bit too thin, or too "nude" in the bass. The Musikverein, on the other hand, has always been generous to the lower end of the audio spectrum, and the Viennese double basses and celli are among the best anywhere. As a result, and as mentioned previously, the Vienna Phil. make the Cooke version (Goldschmidt, really) sound more filled out; more natural; more complete.

All this said, there are performances I like better for tempo relationships. The two outer movements aren't nearly so slack sounding on the recent Noseda/BBC Phil. M10 (Chandos), while their "Purgatorio" (middle movement) doesn't sound quite so rushed either. Still, the Viennese strings can sustain excess slack in the outer movements better than most. Personally, I prefer that the first movement go much quicker when doing the entire 10th (as opposed to playing the Adagio by itself). Harding stretches the first movement well beyond 25 minutes, while Ormandy is 15 seconds shy of 22 minutes. But it's hard to argue with the results the Vienna strings get in the last movement, even if I prefer a less gossamer approach to Mahler's final reach back towards young, idealistic love (let's call it a "reach", and not just a glance).

Kudos on three other important points as well:

First, like Rattle, Harding links the last movements with just a single drum stroke, not two.

Second, also like Rattle, Harding takes everything from the second scherzo's (4th movement) final expressionistic outburst, to the beginning of the fifth movement, quite slowly. This lends a very Shostakovich like atmosphere to the final two minutes of the fourth movement.

Third, and not least, Harding doesn't blow you out of the room with his solo bass drum shots; the "muted" drum sensibly played on a bass drum (pleeeeaze, no more tenor drums, tom-toms, bongos, etc.). Combined with an excellent solo tuba, as well as sound quality that can pick up all the soft tam-tam strokes, you'd be very hard pressed to find a more effective or atmospheric sounding start to the finale. That alone counts for plenty.

I have to agree with everything that the previous reviewer stated. My only thing is that I would have liked the Timpani that starts the last movement to thunder and not be so distant.

So here are my praises:

- The most Emotionally wrought reading bar none so far!

- The most Beautiful played by Any and All standards!

- The most Lavish sounding recording, makes you almost see the players!

- The most Convincing performance musically speaking, makes you think that this was completely written by Mahler and not taken from his sketches!

There's no wonder that the Vienna Philharmonic is the perfect orchestra for this work!

There's a statement at p. 3 in the accompanying booklet that says quite a lot about this recording. Here we read the following judgement about Mahler's 10: "a lot less weird than the Seventh". Who said it? - Well, "some players" of Vienna Philharmonic responding to Mr Harding's question about their initial response to this music. Apparently many of the players held that view. And that says a lot about Vienna Philharmonic's relation to Mahler: the orchestra's tradition is simply that they do not understand/appreciate his music as much as is needed for a good interpretation. And, apparently, Mr Harding has not managed to convince them of anything else than that this music is just "a lot less weird than the Seventh".

What about the interpretation, then? I found no special insights in Mr Harding's approach. It is, of course, not a bad or terrible interpretation, but, as I see it, just a "via media" (i.e., middle of the road) interpretation that carefully avoids extremes. It is also quite slow, at least if you compare with Ormandy's outstanding premiere recording of Cooke's performing version: Mahler: Symphony No. 10 [Performing Version by Deryck Cooke].

Everything is of course beautifully played (because Vienna Philharmonic is a great orchestra in terms of sound), but there's no passion anywhere. Not the passion that this orchestra manages to show when they play Vienna walzes during the New Year concerts, at least (perhaps that is what they prefer to do at every concert...). Or perhaps is it Mr Harding's limited experience as a Mahler interpreter that prevents him from reaching the rock bottom of the score - as I think Gielen, Rattle and even Chailly did in their recordings (see Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (Performing Version by Deryck Cooke), Mahler - Symphony 10 / Berliner Philharmoniker * Rattle and Mahler: Symphony no 10 / Chailly, RSO Berlin). After all, the man is just 32 here. And he has not yet recorded Mahler's first symphony, just the fourth in a somewhat weird (!) version for chamber orchestra: Mahler: Symphony No. 4.

In sum, Ormandy's recording is still the first choice, followed by Gielen in outstanding digital sound. Rattle and Chailly come next. And then we have Barshai in his own version of the Mahler 10, now available as a single bargain disc: Symphony 10.

Daniel Harding and the Vienna Philharmonic do this symphony the most justice yet. I have listened to every recording of this work and this is by far the best and most authentic being that it is the orchestra that Mahler held under his baton the longest. From the monophonic viola tutti at the beginning to the last swell of the violins in the final Adagio, this is a well constructed, well played, and wonderfully interpreted version of a symphony shrouded in controversy and mystery. The Vienna players do such justice to this that it is heart wrenching to listen to knowing what Mahler was going through to compose it. Both Adagios are well paced and soulful. The two scherzos are at the right speed and the subtle Viennese lilts are only placed well by those who do them without thinking about it. The middle movement is so well developed that when the fear chord arrives one is not ready as one should be. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! I look forward to more from Daniel Harding and the VPO.

Peter M.

Some of the previous versions I've heard of Mahler's tenth symphony have seemed sketchy, a bit disconnected and wandering.
The very young (for a conductor) Daniel Harding has brought it all together and kept the music flowing and alive.
In a few places I'd have preferred to have a bigger sound. For example, the muted drum sounds are just that--MUTED. Well of course the score calls for muted drums. It's just that these are very much softer than many of us are accustomed to hearing.

The Purgatorio movement is its usual "spooky" self, but the movement seems to flow more fluidly--more like a devils' dance--a sort of Berlioz witches' sabbath atmosphere.

Whether this will eventually be considered among the very best versions of Mahler's tenth remains to be seen, but it certainly gave me a new perspective on how vigorous Mahler was even during the last months of his too-short life. It is brilliantly written, well-performed here, and demonstrates how full of life Mahler still was in the final year of his life.

The disc came shortly after I ordered it, and has been very impressive ever since. This young British maestro definitely has this score well under his skin. The Vienna Philharmonic plays splendedly, especially the lovely ending in the final movement.

I simply cannot understand the ecstatic reviews of this utterly insipid performance of this brilliant work. I've been listening to various performance of this symphony for 30 years and this one stands out as the one that seems most completely off the mark of what Mahler expressed throughout his composing career, namely passion, gravitas, a certain gallows humor, and, ultimately, profound spirituality. While I will admit that it seems a little unfair to criticize a performance of a work that was far from complete at the composer's death, other conductors have done, in my view, an infinitely better job with this still immensely powerful symphony (although not in this deadeningLiberation from the Lie: Cutting the Roots of Fear Once and for All performance). Everything seems wrong with it and I literally mean everything. Melodies are muddied by failing to bring out essential voices, moments of breathtaking feeling are rushed through, and appropriate tension building is completely absent. I have never wanted my money back after buying a recording from amazon, but I really wish I could with this one. I was drawn in by the mysteriously enthusiastic reviews for this recording, but I've learned that one, ultimately, has one reviewer he can truly rely on; himself.

Considering the rave reviews by other listeners, I was surprised to agree with Eric Gross' view that this performance is boring. I have numerous recordings of Mahler's 10th and the ones that stand out for repeated listening from me are Barsahi, Chailly and Gielen. This new recording by Daniel Harding failed to hold my attention -- which is rare in Mahler. I don't understand what the fuss is all about with this conductor. Now that I recall, I felt the same way about his recordings of Don Giovanni (simply awful) and Brahms' 3rd and 4th symphonies (also boring).