Mahler: Symphony No. 9 [Import, Original recording reissued]

Gustav Mahler (Composer), Richard [1] Strauss (Composer), Simon Rattle (Conductor), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Simon Rattle
• Composer: Gustav Mahler, Richard [1] Strauss
• Audio CD (September 8, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import, Original recording reissued
• Label: Angel Records
• ASIN: B00000AF4J
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #459,113 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Symphony No. 9: III. Rondo-Burleske, Allegro Assai, Sehr Trotzig

2. Symphony No. 9: IV. Adagio, Sehr Langsam Und Noch Zuruckhaltend

Disc: 2

1. Symphony No. 9: I. Andante Comodo

2. Symphony No. 9: II. Im Tempo Eines Gemachlichen Landlers, Etwas Tappisch Und Sehr Derb- Etwas tappisch und sehr derb

3. Metamorphosen For 23 Solo Strings - Wiener Philharmoniker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A marvel, November 29, 2001

By 

Rupert Stone (Utopia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 9 (Audio CD)

Rattle's Ninth is, as ever with his recordings, highly subversive and does things with the score other conductors would wince at. But such is the manner of great artists. This recording is devastating, and relentlessly intense; the first movement is momentous in its death obsessed fury. However, the most striking moments for me are the quiet episodes, where the playing is almost inaudible, mysterious and unsettling. Rarely has a conductor done so much with an orchestra, pushing them to maniacal extremes (the glorious fanfares) or almost silent moments of repose. The middle movements display a perfect sense of architecture; the second, so often misunderstood, is interpreted in all its deranged grotesquerie and ugliness. The third is vast in terms of sound - the moment when the theme from the adagio for trumpet arrives is indescribably sublime and beautifully realised by Rattle. The final movement pretty much defies belief; I have rarely heard as poignant or disturbing an evocation of death and dying in any recording. But that is not all. This set also includes a staggering reading of Strauss'Metamorphosen (which is surely one of the benchmarks for the work). The orchestral playing in both works is of the very highest quality, the Vienna Philharmonic on electrifying form. This piece, the Strauss, is a nightmare to structure, with its circularity and string of death-ridden variations. But Rattle surmounts all obstacles, rounding off the set with an unforgettable rendition that famously stunned the audience in the Musikverein. Along with Karajan's 1982 live version, this is a must have - amazing.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rattle's least successful Mahler, December 21, 2007

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 9 (Audio CD)

Altough Amazon doesn't lsit it yet, Sir Simon has redone the Mahler Ninth with his own Berlin Phil., and the result is a major improvement over this earleir version from Vienna. Every thing that the Amazon reviewer points out is right: uneasy, sometimes clipped playing from the Vieenese musicians, ugly sonics, and a stiff, artificial interpretation from Rattle that lacks any sense of inner life. I suppose that EMi released it in order to offer a crown jewel to Rattl'es Mahler cycle, but the other installments from Birmingham are generally much better. In any event, this CD is water under the bridge in Rattle's rising career, and his dramatic improvement in the Berlin re-do is hertening.

3.0 out of 5 stars Should be better, June 9, 2011

By 

J. K. Davis MD (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 9 (Audio CD)

OK, it's the Vienna Philharmonic, and Sir Simon certainly has a resume of good to excellent recordings, but for me, this is like the Beethoven symphonies he recorded with the VPO: undistinguished. I just listened to Rattle's re-do with the Berlin Philharmonic, and it's way better, but still not on a level with Karajan, Bernstein, Levine or even Dohnanyi (the best by far of his Cleveland Mahler recordings). This is GREAT music, and that doesn't come out in this recording.