Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Get $1 in Amazon MP3 credit with qualifying purchase. Limited to one promotional credit per customer. Here's how (restrictions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
once again, it's the sound that undermines the performance,
This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (Audio CD)
I've been putting off reviewing the Rattle Mahler 8th because it's a real toughie. That being the case, I'm going to cut to the chase right away.Once again, EMI has provided Rattle with less than outstanding sound. If you have a DVD player that's hooked up to your main stereo, get this on the extended range DVD disc. It's not a DVD-A, but a disc that can played in ANY DVD player (it won't play on a regular CD player though). It does have a fairly extended dynamic range - rather like what you'd expect from a DVD-A. I found this to be a sizeable improvement over the plain, old CD. As for the performance itself, Part 2 is better than Part 1. Part 1 finds Rattle pushing a bit too much in the faster parts. It's not such a problem during the big double fugue passage, but it becomes one at end of the "Gloria" - the concluding section of part 1. Here, Rattle's desire to keep pushing ahead sort of obscures choral detail, as well as actually robbing this ending of some it's majesty, if you will. Part 2 is much better. In fact, this might possibly be the greatest performance of Part 2 ever. All of the soloists are very good, but they're also supported by a stronger than usual childrens chorus (a weak childrens chorus was one of the down-falls of the highly touted Kent Nagano M8, along with some very sluggish tempi for the first fifteen minutes or so of Part 2). No such troubles here, as Rattle does a particularly good job of capturing the changes of mood - the ebb and flow of Part 2, if you will. He's very Wagnerian with the baritone and bass-baritone solos, yet captures the lighter, more Mendelssohn-like character of the passages for children and womens voices that follow. Jon Villars does a very good job on his two long and difficult tenor solos (Kollo, Heppner, and Richard Leech are better still). But none of this means anything if the ending falls flat. Again, no such troubles here. The chorus is sufficiently large, and the Birmingham organ roars like a 747 on take-off. More important, Rattle mixes up his tempi in an intelligent way; speeding up for the males' ascending, "das ewig Weibliche zieht uns hinan" (often times dragged). After the chorus cuts out, he takes the onstage trombone soli at almost a march tempo - matching the speed in which that same theme is employed in Part 1 - yet, he slows down significantly for the symphony's concluding measures; the grandest ending in all of western music. What to do? Again, if you have a DVD player, it's worth investigating this on the extended range DVD disc (also comes with an interesting interview, and rehearsal footage that's the only video component). For Part 1, I really like the Nagano recording. Unfortunately, his Part 2 takes too long to get warmed up. Nagano is also let down by a less than stellar tenor, and a childrens chorus that's simply too wimpy sounding. Solti is reliable, but - let's face it - it's pretty dated now. Better all-around Mahler 8th's are the Tennstedt one that just got reissued on EMI's remastered "Great Recordings Of The Century" edition (coupled to a pretty decent Mahler fourth), as well as the recent Anton Wit/Warsaw Phil. one on Naxos. My personal favorite Mahler 8th of any (drum roll, please) is the Gary Bertini one on EMI. However, at this time, you can only get in the box set of the complete symphonies conducted by him - Bertini. As a supplement, anybody with a DVD player should get the Bernstein/Vienna Phil. DVD disc of symphonies 7 & 8 (DG). But still, even with the regular CD issue, you could do far worse than the Rattle. Just don't expect an audiophile event, is all.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Universe resounding - truly!,
By MartinP "MartinP" (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (Audio CD)
Well, what can one say, except 'wow', or something similarly monosyllabic. Since the teenage years when this work caught my fascination, and I decided to get every recording of it I could get my hands on (attending a life performance really seemed too much to hope for), I collected a dozen versions of this work. And this one surpasses them all. It simply left me gasping: the blazing final chords have never sounded more immense and overwhelming on disc. The whole reading has that true sense of scale that is a prerequisite for this symphony (many modern day conductors, or more likely, concert managers, keep insisting on presenting minimalist renderings). Soloists are placed in a natural perspective, and the choruses are excitingly stereophonic, incisive and powerful. For once, the children's choir is audible throughout, and you can count on these Birmingham and Toronto youths to make the most of it.The soloists may not be a perfect match to the most luxurious line-ups of previous recordings (notably Solti's and Sinopoli's), but blend in very well, and Soile Isokoski does give us a most delightful Gretchen. Jon Vickars however sounds taxed and even somewhat frayed; that said, unlike many of his colleagues he at least shows himself capable of singing a true piano. In the end, this is a minor quibble, for as Mahler said, in this symphony the voices are in fact orchestral instruments, and the thing that places this reading hors concours as far as I'm concerned is that it is a very orchestral reading. I know of no other Eight on disc that allows you to hear so much of what is going on in the orchestra, and played so beautifully at that: the Birmingham orchestra has clearly succeeded in maintaining its world class stature after Rattle's departure. I've not been a regular fan of Rattle's Mahler. Most of his recordings I found whimsical and fussy, and in my humble opinion his recording of the Second is one of the most insistently overpraised discs in the catalogue. Only his two recordings of the Tenth I have found truly rewarding. With this Eight he sets the record straight, especially seeing that this is a `live' recording (though you won't hear a sound from the audience). A recent, shockingly garbled attempt at this work by Gergiev in Amsterdam once again showed that even the greatest conductors can get into trouble trying to keep these mammoth forces and complex structures together - disaster was only barely avoided. No such trouble here: the execution is of dazzling precision, and gives free reign to musical inspiration. Mahler considered this to be his greatest work, and it certainly was his greatest public success, less than a year before he died. In later years it has come to be regarded as overblown and old-fashioned, but I feel there is a true and heartfelt, life-enhancing vision behind these notes that Rattle knows to realize like few before him. A must-have, I would say!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Wonder and Power of Mahler's 8th Becomes Intimate,
By Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (Audio CD)
Sir Simon Rattle certainly has gained his credentials as a Mahler interpreter of the highest esteem. Of all of his recordings of the Mahler symphonies this newest release of the mighty 'Symphony of a Thousand' as captured during live performances in June 2004 is the crowning glory. This symphony is fraught with challenges at every point of its 74 minute length: the forces involved include an expanded orchestra, a large chorus which at times sings in sixteen parts, a children's chorus, eight soloists of heroic operatic caliber, and a score so complex that it would challenge any conductor's ability just to hold it all together much less make it have the architectural sense that lies within the notes of the two movements.Rattle paces this performance with such sound sensitivity that he not only makes this gargantuan symphony work, he makes it seem almost intimate so well integrated is his concept and execution. He is blessed with an orchestra - his City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra - fully compatible with his interpretation and playing better than it ever has on recordings. The Orchestra's Chorus and Youth Chorus are expanded to include the London Symphony Chorus and the Toronto Children's Chorus and the quality of singing is lush and responsive throughout. Add to this the fine voices of Jon Villars (the best Doctor Marianus on records), Christine Brewer, Soile Isokoski, Juliane Banse, Birgit Remmert, Jane Henschel, David Wilson-Johnson, and John Relyea and the impact of each of the roles in Parts I and II are individual and stunning in solo portions and blended to perfection in the ensemble passages. Rattle's thoughtful, spiritually enlightening, passionate conducting achieves what few conductors have accomplished. The recorded ambience is so very well balanced that the soloists, the organ, the multiple harps, the children and the combined forces are clear and for the first time heard to the advantage impossible in the concert hall. This is now the definitive Mahler 8th and makes us anticipate Michael Tilson Thomas' eventual recording in his excellent cycle. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, April 05
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
