Mahler: Symphony No. 2 [Hybrid SACD - DSD]

Gustav Mahler (Artist), Isabel Bayrakdarian (Artist), Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (Artist), Michael Tilson Thomas (Artist), San Francisco Symphony (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 9, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
• Label: Sfs Media
• ASIN: B0006A9F5A
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,908 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Thrilling, May 18, 2005

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Prescott Cunningham Moore (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Audio CD)

Michael Tilson Thomas's fifth Mahler recording with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in his series of the complete Mahler symphonies is just as wonderful and exciting as any Mahler performance can be. The second, commonly called the Resurrection Symphony, is the most successful of the first four symphonies in structure, clarity, and overall architecture. Unlike the unbalanced third and forth symphonies and the sometimes indulgent first, the second is strong in its architecture, powerful in its emotional scope, and wonderfully rich in its musical language. The second is Mahler's answer to death and resurrection, a powerful transition from minor to major, that, when well performed, is chilling in its emotional impact.

The symphony begins with an arresting funeral march in dark minor. The stirring of the low string in fff is frightening as they call together the whirling activity. The movement is in sonata form, with a double development, each capped of with terribly exciting climaxes. The lovely andante is calming in its gentle swing, but is still filled with the passion of the first movement. The enigmatic scherzo, with its wonderfully vertiginous orchestration, is a dark compilation of Jewish melodies. The lovely forth movement, with its wonderful vocal writing, acts as an introduction of sorts to the dramatic and gigantic finale. The finale is a vivid journey through darkness and adversity, leading to the wonderful glory drenched ending of the symphony.

There are few faults in this consistently splendid recording of the symphony. The San Francisco Symphony is in great form, delivering a performance congruous with Mahler's idiomatic sound world. The first movement begins with tremendous energy; the lower strings really dig into their parts with the necessary vehemence. Thomas's tempo is a bit slower than usual - however, he uses the tempo to judiciously draw out aspects of the score. At times, tension sags due to heavy rubatto, but overall, the good outweighs the bad: the orchestra really delivers a dark, rich sonority; the dichotomy between the dark and light episodes is accentuated effectively; the final climax before the recapitulation has never been bettered; and Thomas immediate transition into the recapitulation after the climax maintains a great deal of tension, eliminating the awkwardness of the moment. All in all, this is not only Thomas' best conception of a sonata-form movement within the cycle, but it also stands up handsomely to the competition, including Bernstein's recording on DG, which also suffers from slow tempos and slackening tension.

The second movement goes well enough. The strings sing their part warmly, offering a plush sound which is remarkably lovely - even if it is somewhat at odds with the rustic charm of the dance. Thomas indulges his penchant for rubato in excess ever so slightly - a tighter grip would have improved this otherwise wonderful movement.

The scherzo, however, hangs fire. There are too many wonderful moments here to highlight but of particular note are the droll clarinets, Thomas's wonderful transition into the trio, and the magnificent "cry of despair" which captures the all dread and intensity frighteningly well. The clarity of texture, not to mention the top-to-bottom perfection of ensemble, is a joy.

And then there is the Urlicht, one of the finest on disc, so faithfully performed by the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Never has a voice so rich, so powerful, yet so sensitive graced this movement. She draws the text from the score masterfully, highlighting all the correct emotions, while imbuing the lied with a gravitas that never sounds forced. Thomas's sensitive accompaniment only adds to this gem, this brief dream before the onslaught of the finale.

The finale is uniformly spectacular, from the opening Bb minor outburst to the final "resurrection" in Eb. All offstage effects register with immaculate clarity, the various marches all embody the correct character, the orchestra really digs into their parts, delivering the vile sounds of purgatory with utmost character while expertly contrasting that with true visions of heaven. The entrance of the chorus is hair-raising and Hunt Lieberson is just as fine here as ever. Isabel Bayrakdarian, however, is a bit more problematic. Her small voice and quick vibrato do not suite the music well, keeping her vocal line stubbornly earthbound when transcendence is so necessary. However, her part is small and is easy to overlook when compared to the closing passages, where Thomas really creates a "resurrection." Expertly paced, perfectly balanced, and magnificently captured, the final passages are astoundingly powerful, carrying a great deal of tension and gravitas. Thomas may not revel in this music like Bernstein, who really plods through the final passages, but allows this conclusion to arrive naturally, creating a thrillingly satisfying close to this symphony. A magnificent installment in the ongoing series and a highlight in the discography of Mahler seconds.

On a side note, I think it is important to discuss the nature of the sound of the San Francisco Symphony in these recordings. The winds are quite lively, playful, at times even coquettish. The brass is rich, powerful, but not overbearing. The percussion, especially the bass drum and tam tam (wow), is astoundingly powerful. The strings have a bright sheen, but deliver some of their darkest timbres on disc here. Regardless, the real matter of interest in this recording is what is being said. Michael Tilson Thomas is quite well versed in Mahler and there is a profundity of incite here. There is no such thing as definitive when it comes to a Mahler performance. This recording, however, comes remarkably close.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MTT and Mahler Cycle Continues, December 21, 2004

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Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Audio CD)

Michael Tilson Thomas continues his survey of the symphonies of Gustav Mahler with this finely played and recorded Symphony No. 2. As with all the other recordings in this survey the work is based on live performances in Davies Hall with the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus, and this has proven a wise method of achieving an ambience of presence that is a far cry form the old studio cut and paste performances.

The SFO plays very well indeed, and Chorus is rich and full ranged, and the soloists are among the best available (Isabel Bayrakdarian and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson). Thomas knows his Mahler from all angles, has been a fine proponent of this repertoire for many years, and has developed his own connection with the scores. In every respect this recording is absolutely first rate: MTT's overall concept is assured from the first movement on, his tempi while a bit on the slow side work for him, and he gets the most out of his orchestra and chorus. Technically then, this is an excellent Mahler No. 2.

What feels strangely lacking here is the shattering emotional commitment that this same team gave us with the Mahler No. 6. The phrasing is immaculate, the Andante is leisurely beautiful, the brass response and percussion/tympani are enormously effective, yet it is at times such as the closing descending bars of the first movement that seem to slowly plod rather than come to a conclusion. As magnificent an artist as Hunt Lieberson is there is no mystery or from-the-bowels-of-the-earth feeling to her well-executed 'Urlicht'. From the chorus MTT manages to find that otherworldly pianissimo that begins in the last movement and allows that to grow into an exalting paean.

In other words this is a perfect performance, but at least for this listener it does not move my soul the way other performances regularly can and do. That said, I know I will be listening to this recording frequently because of all the details and finesse. Grady Harp, December 2004

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hunt-Lieberson and symphony's ending steal the show, December 26, 2006

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B. Guerrero "Mahler nutcase" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Audio CD)

I want to like this better than I do, as the good moments are truly great. But upon repeated listenings, once again, MTT finds spots to just suddenly slow down for no real or good reason. Here, it's in the scherzo; towards the end. In particular, there's a passage where Mahler makes it sounds as though time is standing still for a bit. Naturally, MTT feels that he has to exaggerate that which Mahler has already built into the music. It's so typical of what he's been doing in his on-going cycle. Also, slow and soft passages throughout the performance are, indeed, SLOW! If I'm not mistaken, MTT's finale stretches well beyond 35 minutes. And, as with his earlier SFSO recording of the Mahler third symphony, the second movement is somewhat faceless and prosaic. Too bad, because there are some other really fine things that happen here - the climax to the first movement being one of them. Not only does MTT nail that climax, but he also erases the awkwardness of the next moment by having the low strings jump right back with their fast, ascending flourishes - almost without any waiting. That's a brilliant interpretive touch. But then there's that faceless second movement, followed by the scherzo with the strange dragging of tempo, here and there. Too bad, because then we get Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson, who has graced this recording with possibilly the greatest vocal performance ever! In addition, the end of the symphony is quite thrilling; although, the organ sounds far stronger on the more natural sounding Blomstedt/SFSO M2 from Decca (as a trade-off, the alternating salvos of the percussion are stronger here).

In the final analysis, although the mezzo is nowhere as good, I just feel that the Blomstedt/SFSO M2 flows better from begining to end. I also like the stronger organ and firmer sounding chorus. MTT's strange tempo anomolies grow tiresome upon repeated listening too. If you want to hear darn near everything done right in this large and multi-faceted work, I recommend the recent Ivan Fischer/BFO Mahler 2nd on Channel Classics. If a more historical perspective is your interest, you can't beat Walter or Klemperer - especially his live stereo one from Munich with Janet Baker.