Customer Reviews

Mahler: Symphony No. 7 in E minor

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are good reasons for appreciating Mariss Jansons' accomplished Mahler Seventh, but in spirit it's rather stolid. I agree with the earlier reviewer that we've been fortunate to have a handful of competitive recordings in the past few years, but I would discount Zinman and even Barenboim, both of whom lead very good versions, in favor of the exciting ones from Gergiev and Abbado, who so far surpass the other two -- and this new one -- that it might be time to slow down the Mahler recording mill. There really is no obvious reason for Jansons'new reading except, perhaps, its hybrid SACD sound, which is excellent. Also excellent is the execution of the Bavarian Radio orchestra, which some critics consider one of the best in the world (I've not heard them in concert and withhold judgment).

What Jansons chiefly lacks is visceral energy. Like Chailly, his predecessor in Amsterdam with the Concertgebouw, his style in Mahler is to make the most from bar to bar, with impeccable balances and voicing of chords. I'm sorry, but that way tends disaster in the Seventh or any other major Mahler work. Conductors succeed who can draw us into Mahler's complex emotional world, so full of wildly contrasted elements. Smoothing out the textures and flattening the mood into civilized comfort aren't right. We have piano rolls of Mahler playing his own music, and his style was as spontaneous and varied as one would expect.

The seventh's reputation for difficulty comes from several sources, I think. One is the rollicking, brash finale, which older critics sniffed at as clownish and undignified. Another is the absence of easily identified emotion. All the movements, but especially the two eerie Nachtmusiks, evoke ambiguous feelings and half-lit moods. One finds oneself grasping at shadows much of the time, and even something as familiar as a march refuses to proceed in a straight line without much embroidery and commentary from the sidelines. The best to be said about Jansons is that he handles the gray areas with extreme finesse and delicacy, and the spooky touches in the Scherzo catch your attention. But I can't escape the feeling that Mahler intended for more gutsiness and a far wilder ride in the finale -- see Gergiev and both classic Bernstein recordings, on Sony and DG. Even Gerard Schwarz, working with the provincial Royal Liverpool Phil., comes closer to the mark.

My evaluation suggests three stars, but I'm adding an extra one out of respect for the vivid sonics and the orchestra's exceptional execution.

Mahler 7 has finally hit a patch of good fortune. Michael Tilson-Thomas has recorded it twice in recent times (I prefer his earlier LSO one on RCA). Since then, Daniel Barenboim, David Zinman, and Gerard Schwarz have all turned in pretty impressive efforts. This new Jansons one has the benefit of not only fitting on a single disc, but being an sacd/cd hybrid as well. In general, it's a fast performance with excellent and highly idiomatic playing from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In fact, I was rather shocked to discover that this was a "live" recording, since the folks at BR chose to leave on the applause (I do wish that they wouldn't do that). For my taste, the woodwinds could have been a tad more forward in the overall perspective, but the timpani player is superb. In fact, at the start of the finale, this has absolutely THE best played opening flourish on the kettle drums that I've ever heard. That's truly saying something. The brass cut through nicely when they need to, but neither are they too heavy and overbearing. That leaves the strings and they do a nice job as well, especially in the erudite second Nachtmusik (fourth movement). There's no shortage of guitar or mandolin either. If all this sounds like shades of the old Kubelik/BRSO Mahler cycle, you'd be right.

All in all, this a very solid contender. Personally speaking, I have a slight preference for the Barenboim. That's mostly because he does a better job of making the finale sound both spontaneous and rather unhinged at the right moments (Jansons is pretty much just fast from start to finish, clocking in well short of 17 minutes). I also like Barenboim's somewhat swifter tempo for the fourth movement. But the differences aren't great by any means - both have very good playing and truly good sound. The Gerard Schwarz M7 shouldn't be entirely forgotten either. We're finally spoiled for good choices on the Mahler 7th (and yes, I love the old Lenny one)!

If your idea of a good performance of the Mahler 7th is one whose main priority is to heighten the edgy, neurotic aspects of the music (right through to the conclusion), then this live recording from 2007 may be for you. In my view, however, Jansons overplays his cards in this respect, resulting in an interpretation that comes to seem like a caricature.

Jansons never loses an opportunity to accentuate the disturbing and nightmarish. The conductor's approach is evident from the first movement, which, however, begins rather mechanically with a slightly tentative and less than baleful sounding tenor horn (it improves at its next entry). Jansons' allegro risoluto ma non troppo is hectic, choppy and feverish, particularly during the reprise following the central elysian episode. Tempo variations throughout the movement are as frequent as I've heard and very pronounced. Some listeners might like this degree of volatility in the first movement, but for me it undermines structural integrity and results in a loss of tension.

In the three night pieces, strong accents, sudden swells and other devices are used to reinforce a sense of skittishness and unease. The last movement, which Jansons takes quite quickly (it actually ends at around 16.50 followed by applause), is more manic than raucously good humoured, which in itself is quite interesting and fits in with his interpretation. However, by the time the last movement is reached, the vision has come to sound forced and in your face, the mannerisms and effects used to execute it tiresome.

I listened to this recording in SACD stereo. The quality of sound is decent but far from demonstration standard, and is easily outshone by much older recordings (eg CSO/Abbado). It is quite dry, lacks bloom and is inclined to hardness during louder passages. The sound may have something to do with the recording venue, the Philharmonie in Gasteig (Munich), which I understand has a difficult acoustic.