Customer Reviews

Mahler: Symphony No. 2

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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.

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

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.

This is the best Mahler recording yet done in the cycle by San Francisco and Michael Tilson Thomas. The orchestra is concise and crisp, at times I thought I was listening to Berlin under Karajan. I do not recall San Francisco strings playing in such powerful unison. The brass rivals Chicago under Solti. The interpretation makes one feel that they are listening to a performance not of this world but offers a glimpse into the eternal. This enters as a reference recording that will match that of Klemperer's reference of two generations ago. You simply must go out and buy this if you like classical music.

Michael Tilson Thomas leads the San Francisco Symphony in a stirring recording of Mahler's powerful Resurrection Symphony #2. The playing is nothing short of masterful, as it reflects depth, precision and beauty, and the musical line is well sustained in the lengthier sections. The second movement is especially fine, but the highlight is most definitely the finale, as uniformly splendid as one could possibly want of this piece. The big percussion crescendos and the ensuing marches achieve amazing dramatic heights, and the choir sounds absolutely inspiring. Thomas does a nice job of adjusting the tempo movements, especially during the final reprise of the resurrection chorus, while he brings in a combination of bells, organ, and tam-tam with thundering effect.

Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian and especially mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson deliver exquisite vocal performances. Gifted with her perfectly natural and persuasive sound, Lieberson's rich singing of the "Urlicht" movement is particularly breathtaking. The entire recording registers with excellent clarity and atmosphere. As definitive a recording as you can expect of this piece thanks to Thomas' masterful direction.

Pristine sound and immaculate playing, but that doesn't make for a great Mahler 2. Compared with, say, Bernstein (Sony), Solti (1981) or Gielen (Hannsler) the performance is under characterized and sterile, especially in the first 3 movements. They lack drive, and the bubbly, chamber-like playing style often sounds out of place. Things improve in Movements IV and V, but the earlier weakness ruins the transformational experience. The perspective of the recording is also more distant than usual. I really like the previous SFS releases of Nos. 3 and 6 (and No. 1 is quite good), but I'd have to conclude that this is something of a superficial dud.

"Mahler ist nicht fur Kinder." --William Steinberg, hearing MTT conducting Mahler

What's most surprising to me about hearing this concert on CD is that I was there. I attended one of the performances used to make this disc. Somehow the live event was more thrilling than what came out on this CD. I know it's hard to capture the full impact of a Mahler 2. I also know that "being there" adds a certain thrill. Nevertheless, while I noted some of these shortcomings at the concert itself, they seem to bother me more on the recording.

One of the things that bothers me most is the way MTT really elongates the tempi. This is easily the slowest Mahler 2 I've ever encountered on record. But it's not because of extreme contrasts between slow and fast sections. *Much* of the performance is slow--too slow and de-li-ber-ate--and often the structure crumbles in MTT's hands. For just one example, the first theme in the first movement doesn't have nearly enough tension and build, so that when the cor anglais second theme emerges (*beautifully* played by Julie Ann Giocobassi, by the way) it's not a "respite" from anything. The whole first movement never really gets off the ground, so that there's no dramatic contrast between it and the bucolic second movement--which is to be so strikingly different, remember, that Mahler wanted five full minutes' pause. Compare Rattle, Walter, Bernstein, and Abbado, among many others, for logic, architecture, build, just sheer excitement. The second movement contains some of Thomas' worst conducting on record, with him doing absolutely nothing with the second staccato theme that starts in the high strings. The strings just bow the repeated phrases in unison without any shaping. The very Yiddish third movement in the Phrygian mode doesn't sound very Yiddish or very Phrygian in the hands of MTT, where he blows through it very briskly without acknowledging any of the good humor. (For the life of me I don't remember it being that way in concert.) Urlicht is the first high point, with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson singing gorgeously and with so much of the emotional range missing from MTT's rather repressed reading. Finally in the last movement things get exciting. Suddenly we have the huge contrasts in dynamics and tempi that Mahler demands (though more in dynamics than tempi--Tilson Thomas rarely gets beyond medium-slow in this interpretation). The chorus is superb, maybe the best I've heard on record. The soprano, Isabel Bayrakdarian, last heard on the soundtrack to the second "Lord of the Rings" movie, is awful--with a small, colorless voice that sounded as unimpressive live as it does on this CD. But she is very pretty and young and thin, and Ms. Hunt Lieberson is older and plump and plain, so guess who got the bigger applause at the concert?

Some interesting discrepancies: the offstage brass on the CD are flawless. In the concert I attended they fell apart at their first entrance in the last movement, that section being a true train wreck. Such are the dangers of a live performance! And the organ at the end is much louder on the CD than it was live, where it was barely audible, even though I was sitting rather close to the pipes. However, even on the CD it is muffled and indistinct, and in fact the whole final episode is somewhat "tubby."

Curiously, the sound throughout this CD is compressed. I can understand why the soft sections were pumped up a bit--to squash audience noise--but why are the loudest parts flattened? Just compare the brass fortissimos on Rattle or Bernstein or Haitink to this CD to see what I mean. It was louder in concert, that's for sure. And listen to how "pinched" the brass section in particular sounds in the fortissimo sections. I'm sure they were using unidirectional mikes to keep as much extraneous noise off the recording as possible; still, DG does this kind of recording all the time these days, and they do a better job of it than is evidenced here. Perhaps it has something to do with this being a hybrid SACD: maybe some sort of data compression had to be used to fit everything onto the discs. Or maybe there was lots of overdubbing (the trumpets from night two mixed with the strings from night five, with the winds from night three, etc.). Or maybe the beauty of tone of the SFSO just isn't comparable to the best European Orchestras--even at the concert I noted a certain blatty quality to the brass, especially the trumpets; they sounded raggety. Compare Rattle for volume with control. Whatever the reason, this is not an epic Mahler 2nd, and "epic" is written into the pages, obviously.

But more frustrating is MTT's slow ponderousness. He makes every moment in this performance a "big moment," while paradoxically not really coming up with any big insight at all. He just seems to think slow tempi and reverence equates with profound. Sometimes I feel like he's up there saying, "Look at *me,* conducting Mahler. The big leagues!" But despite the handling with kid gloves, the overly-reverential (almost sentimental) approach, he doesn't really come up with a new angle to a work that--hate to say it--is starting to almost become a warhorse, or at least very very familiar. Just as the last generation tested their mettle on a Beethoven symphony cycle, Mahler's symphonies seem to be the proving ground for this generation, and I personally get the feeling MTT is going about this cycle and recording it with audio and video for posterity mainly to vault himself up there into the realm of the conductors of legend. I say that in part because, from a musical standpoint alone, this CD and indeed this whole MTT Mahler cycle has been totally unnecessary. The conductor clearly has nothing new to say, even though he has spent a great big chunk of an oil barron's money to say it. But there's really no reason to recommend the present recording with Rattle, Bernsteins I and II, Haitink, Scherchen, Walter, Klemperer and Kubelik available. Just off the top of my head. Still, there is one compelling reason to buy this CD: Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. May she rest in peace.

(March 14, 2010 - This past weekend MTT performed another 2nd at Davies Symphony Hall, and I can report from my seat in the first tier that this was a far better performance than the one offered up on the present CD. Many of the problems that mar the recording--unfocused playing, especially in the first movement, draggy tempi, thin strings, lack of accents, and a general overindulgent quality--were reduced or eliminated last night. The first movement had more focus, and although he still tried that Furtwanglerian suspension of tempi in the first movement's contrasting second theme, he pulled it off better. The off-stage brass didn't crack half their notes, the scherzo had more of a lilt and a sardonic bite, and the organ roared at the end. Actually, I've never heard the very last fortissimo chord brought off with more clarity, either live or on record! [Rattle is particularly sloppy here; his orchestra does not stop together.] And while mezzo Katarina Karnéus was not quite as compelling as Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson, soprano Laura Claycomb was far better than Isabel Bayrakdarian. Unfortunately, I doubt the SFSO will be issuing another M2 on disc, which is too bad, because this time Tilson-Thomas got it mostly right.)

My first thought is that taking on Mahler as a project is quite ambitious and requires a lot of confidence in your players. Regarding the Symphone No. 2, I have read some reviews that paint this recording as sort of "middle of the road." To the contrary, after hearing the recording I was delighted because it is quite extraordinary. A few weeks later I heard a live performance of the work with MTT and the SFSO with the University Musical Society and the Choral Union in Ann Arbor's Hill Auditorium. I was again overjoyed by a wonderful performance. Being a brass player, I appreciate the wonderful brass choir sections, i.e. track 4 - 7:00, and the exquisite work done by Glenn Fischthal (trumpet) and his colleagues in the brass section. Ofcourse, it takes everyone in the orchestra and choir to create a great performance, and this recording achieves great performances by everyone and more. Well done MTT

As expected, the recorded sound is very good and the SFSO plays wonderfully. This Mahler cycle starts powerfully with the 1st Symphony, one of my favorite recordings of that piece, and gets even better with this version of the 2nd. It is slightly quieter than both their 1st and 3rd symphonies in this cycle, but the sound, both in stereo and multichannel, is great. All the shortcomings from this cylce's edition of the 3rd symphony are absent here. MTT allows the orchestra to get aggressive and almost out of control is places - in stark contrast to the micro-managed 3rd and 6th. There are two other modern recordings at this level: Rattle-CBSO and Fischer-BFO. I highly recommend this recording.

I haven't written a review on this site in a really long time. But there are just some things that require coming out of exile.

The performance and recording of the massive work are massive, phenomenal. I have LOTS of recordings of this piece, and I've listened to each and every one of them LOTS and LOTS. Mahler is a God to me. He (and Bruckner) got me through my teenage-years... This performance is special. There is so much power, SO much beauty, SO much intensity, SO much care taken... I've never heard such ferocity (and irony, and agony, and ecstacy) in the first movement, such delicacy (and verve) in the second and third movements, and as for the last movement -- hot damn, son of a gun -- the things Michael Tilson Thomas does with it are just spectacular.

This is my favorite, my absolute favorite. Please give it repeated listenings. There are so many rewards in store for you.