Customer Reviews

Mahler: Symphony No. 9

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Some people may say Karajan, Barbirolli, Horenstein, etc are better, but I don't believe there's only one definitive recording. And I'm very happy with this excellent performance by Abbado & BPO as much with the other recordings by Karajan and Haitink.
My only complaint is that its recorded sound is not very good in my opinion, especially the 1st movement. I don't know how I can explain this exactly, but I feel the sound is shrunken and distorted at strong bass. It sounds so unnatural and annoying. Because of this, I'll give only 4 stars. It worth 5 stars if you only think the performance only.

Abbado shines in this great recording. It is tempting to say that this is not monumental and essential Mahler but I believe that is too easy and short sighted a comment. I have been a Mahler 9 fanatic for many years. I discovered it via the great Karajan recordings, both analog and digital but then grew to believe that Leonard Bernstein owned this piece (I'm not at all sure I don't still believe this).

Any lover of the 9th must seek out both the performance by, and documentary, of Bernstein conducting the work with the Vienna Philharmonic in March of 1971. All that said...... so many of the 9ths have issues. Karajan's versions are magnificent but somewhat hard and granite like at times and almost intractable if that makes any sense. Bernstein's four are essential but the NY Phil is a bit lackluster in the 60's and Bernstein did not live the piece like he did a few years later when he filmed it. The film with Vienna, as I mention above, is absolutely essential but the sound leaves something to be desired. The live Bernstein-Berlin is rightly considered timeless and, as some say, perhaps the greatest ever but, among other inconsistencies, the climax of the 4th movement (the entire symphony) is missing its main theme because the entire Trombone section somehow spaced out. The Bernstein-Concertgebouw, somewhat remarkable especially in the 1st movement, is so completely over the top at times that even a fan like myself has to throw up his hands. Haitink, Barbirolli, Walter, Sinopoli, Levine, Barenboim, and others all have their strong points but none of them quite match the intensity of both execution and perspective that Karajan and Bernstein bring to this music. THEN...... along comes this Abbado recording.

It is beautifully played. It is beautifully conducted. Warm, powerful, intense and at turns heartbreakingly gorgeous in the first movement, this reading of Mahler's masterpiece doesn't miss one moment in the score. The 2nd movement is both charming and sardonic when it needs to be and the 3rd is just flawless and as ferocious as Bernstein ever was. This is a man who knows this music like the back of his hand. He also has the respect of this group of musicians, perhaps the greatest orchestra in the world. His earlier performance with the Vienna Philharmonic was fine and well considered but not even close to this in terms of intensity. I have every recording of this piece, have done a two piano reduction of the 1st movement and when people ask me what recording to begin with when discovering the 9th, I always recommend this.

I then go on to say, "once you have Abbado/Berlin, then discover the first ever with Bruno Walter, then Barbirolli, Klemperer, Haitink, and the greats: Karajan and Bernstein. Go buy this. It is essential.

Recorded "live" at the Berlin Philharmonie Hall, September 1999 this is the last of three new Mahler releases on DG. All the recordings include the previous two, the 3rd and the 7th made "live" by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic.

Abbado new performance on the ninth is a really great one, different and special. Through the darkness lines he bring a real feeling of "dark lane" but he also find the "latent beauty" lines. In this way he seems closer to Horenstein LSO recording on BBC Legends (coupled with Mahler Kindertotenlieder) and to Zander Philharmonia recording on Telarc. Zander Adagio (the fourth movement) is about two minutes slower then Abbado, at 27'44" he is one of the length on record. Horenstein is also close to zander in his LSO recording for BBC Legends and even slower then Zander in his version for Music & Arts. Abbado is in the same class and he delivers the Adagio with great clarity. There is depth and sorrow and the feeling of being into the "edge". The Andante Comodo is impressively place by Aabbado; show understanding from highest order. Through the inner movements Abbado manage to build a strong basis to the Adagio. The Scherzo is gauged superbly and the amazing respond that the Berlin forces can offer brings a true feeling of exploring truth. The third movement Rondo Burleske is quite quick but since abbado has already achieved to put a strong momentum through the first two movements he doesn't lose even a slight of attention. Here also the strings shin beautifully.

The sound is close and well balanced so the instrumental details sound clearly. At times there are audience noises at the background (espeasily at the quietly passages) but they really don't interrupt. The reaction of audience themselves at the end of the performance edited in. A nearly full minute of silence in the hall, before they can put together their hands for the applause. The packaging is also includes a fine essay on the work by Habakuk Traber.

This is a stunning performance; to be ranked alongside Zander with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Horenstein with the LSO, Haitink with the Concertaebouw Orchestra, Barbirolli with the Berlin Philharmonic now re-issue by Emi on "Great Recording Of The Century" series, and Leonard Bernstein also with the Berlin Philharmonic.

This new recording belong to every mahlerian shelf. It should also rated has one of the essential recordings of Mahler 2002 releases. Straight with Simon Rattle new fifth and with Tilson Thomas sixth, also going to record the ninth for his Mahler cycle with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra on April 2003.

Sometimes this symphony can sound like a one big funeral. I have to admit it can be very moving that way. Sometimes, however, I want to hear it as a well crafted piece of art and Abbado's version delivers just that.

This is the performance that will never lose your interest from beginning to end. Thousands of different moods and emotions are clearly materialized as if one is hearing an opera with many characters and scenes. Abbado is very specific and descriptive. His players literally sigh, sneer, weep, and rejoice with the music. Characterizations of the woodwinds and brass are truly something to marvel at (example: the flute at the end of 2nd movt disappearing like a fairy). The new-born Berlin strings are still rich in tone but not as bottom-heavy as in Karajan era. You hear much more transparency than Karajan's or Bernstein's version. When this kind of sonic quality is combined with Abbado's obsessive emphasis on singing, the emotions of the tunes come out naked. I feel that EACH orchestra member, from the concertmaster to the back of the second violins, is truly playing their heart out instead of being driven by a conductor (you sometimes feel that way in many Mahler recordings).

A very fresh performance indeed. It will spotlight many hidden aspects of this amazing work. By the way, this is the most well-recorded Mahler 9th I have ever heard.

If Abbado's earlier set of Mahler symphonies (also on DG) already was worthy of special acclaim, these new valedictory recordings (including the third and seventh symphonies) only affirm the status of the departing music director of this great orchestra as the finest Mahlerian of our times. Over the years, Abbado's interpretations have become more spartan, pared down, crystallized to the essentials, less temperamental, and the effect is profoundly shattering. Never before have we heard this work laid out with such fundamental musicality, clear-headedness, and deep structural understanding of the composition's import. For those not blown away by Bernsteinian histrionics or Karajan's steely soundworld, the only competing modern interpretations are offered by Boulez, though these seem weaker in their emotional content in comparison. And with the superlative sound that lays out every detail for the ear and the mind to peruse, these are recordings that set the gold standard for Mahler performance, likely to last for a lifetime of listening. What a farewell indeed: a true last word of an intelligent artist at the peak of his powers, in full and sympathetic control of a perfect Mahler orchestra more nimble and alive than it has been for years.

The only complaint comes for the packaging: typically again, the U.S. manufacturer omits the deluxe slipcase of the European version, going for lower production costs and cheaper looks. If you weren't lucky to catch the live performances, get all three issues but order them from Amazon.de.

One of the crowning glories of Abbado's long career is his Mahler, which isn't altogether expected. Compared to Karajan or Bernstein, he is a naturally self-effacing condcutor, which doesn't give his musical personality an automatic match with Mahler's symphonies. Abbado is devoted to Mahler, however, and his complete studio cycle on DG had many high points; yet Abbado's tendency toward restraint and underplaying didn't always work. (I still don't feel he has a grasp of the Mahler Second, which he has recorded three times--too much is soft-pedaled and smoothed out, not enough is heaven-storming.)

For me, Abbado really came into his own recently with live performances of the Mahler Third, Seventh, and Ninth. This installment, from 1999, finds the Berlin Phil. in stunning form. Abbado is at his most spontaneous, but there is no sacrifice of control; only the opening section of the final Adagio feels underdone (this whole movement is rather dry-eyed). Otherwise, this reading digs in much more than Boulez's, also on DG, with the Chicago Sym. Both take 79 min. and fit the whole work on a single disc, but that's misleading. Boulez is 4 min. slower in the opening movement and 4 min. faster in the finale. Abbado's tempos are closer to the norm.

This isn't a passionate outpouring like Bernstein's three versions, nor are there any new ideas. It's just a great night at the Berlin Philharmonie under a super-accomplished Mahler conductor. The sonics are fine, but the engineers give us a heavy mid-range that sounds congested in loud passages, and the prominence of brass and winds can throw the balance off (another reviewer here complains that the melodies have been made secondary and the inner voices primary--I see the point, but it's not that bad).

All in all, this Ninth goes to the top of my list, ranking as a live performance with Karajan and Bernstein, all three in Berlin, all three different in shades of interpretation and therefore uniquely wonderful.

This performance of Gustav Mahler's Ninth Symphony sweeps you into the music immediately. One is caught up by the soaring opening melody, and Claudio Abbado allows the music to unfold with intensity and pathos, building toward shattering climaxes. The many changes of tempi and moods of the music are handled seamlessly.

The second movement sums up Mahler's dance music blending various landler and waltzes and songs. He quotes from ting from some of the more popular songs of his day. In the music, Mahler provides a glance at some of the music that has influenced his life, in keeping with the farewell aspect of the first movement. The performance by the Berlin Philharmonic has all the energy of the music one would want, with beautiful phrasing by the orchestra. The third movement look back to the Sixth and Seventh symphonies, bringing a touch of the grotesque.

The Adagio brings the valedictory nature of the symphony home. The music is a meditation on what Mahler felt was the end of his life's work but is also imbued with serenity. Claudio Abbado excels in this movement expressing the deep felt emotion and longing of the music. I don't find a lack of drama in the great climaxes accompanied by the cymbals. For me, the moment is beautifully expressed.

The recording is superb with unmatched clarity and balance between the orchestra players. This recording of the Ninth is among the best and even if you have other performances, this one should be among them.

I currently own three or four different Mahler ninths on cd (and some vinyl), but I've heard at least two or three times as many. I like Karajan's second, I found Boulez' and Salonen's quite intriguing, I didn't particularly like any of the Bernsteins' and I can't remember fully what my opinion about Haitink's or Rattle's is and I'm unsure whether I heard Walter's. And so on.

However, all the others aside, Claudio Abbado makes an astonishing performance. The Berliner Philharmoniker are, as always, fantastic. Some reviewers have noted a 'lesser sound quality' on this recording, but I can hardly say I noticed or thought about any of that before I read it, and wasn't sure what they meant afterwards either. There's some background noise, some barely audiable coughing etcetera.

(The sound is great, and if the recording is such a bad one, I can't help imagine how it must have been live (as this is a concert performance). Oh my gosh. I imagine the splendour of sound and experience of the concert including Rachmaninov/ff's symphonic dances and Mahler's first during my Berlin visit last year, however astonishing and pleasing to hear, with this ninth instead, and it is an astonishing fantasy.)

The thing that matters would or should at least be the actual performance, which I find very pleasing. It's not as pedantic as Boulez or smooth as Karajan, but performed delightfully and reasonably in a quite unsettling way. This music varies between desparation, anger, irony and detachment and, according to most interpretations, regards death in some sense.

As music about death, Abbado is quite fitting. What I mean is that - this performance is in Abbado's last year as chief conductor, after being diagnosed with stomach cancer and all. I think that he, sadly enough, is quite able to understand (and feel) the emotions Mahler once had in mind when he, in an almost similar scenario, wrote it more than a hundred years ago. Comparing to the well-known Karajan, this is perhaps a little bit less steely and detached, with a little more passion/desparation and so on. It's hard to say such things without sounding to scientific about a very subjective experience.

What more is there to say? I enjoy my Karajan and others too, but can't understand why you wouldn't want to own this. It is a formidable and quite emotional performance fitted on one disc and, at least when I bought it, at a very reasonable price. If you never heard this piece before, this one will be excellent. If you already own many, this will probably fit in your collection too.

There's a (minor) disturbance though; some clever producer included two minutes of applause (as a separate track) after the adagio, which doesn't really fit. If you own a cd-player with basic programming abilities, own a computer with an application for copying and burning parts of a disc onto another, have fingers for the remote after the last chord or just enjoy relieving applause, this shouldn't be a problem, or at least to a lesser extent than the tedious disc changing half-ways for Karajan's or other two-disc editions.

In any review, it is more important to discuss whether the players convey the spirit of the music to the listener than to compare it to alternatives which may have different perspectives. This is certainly the case here. Mahler's 9th is a crucial work on the history of music. It contains dramatic elements typical of Beethoven, but also points to the future of Schoenberg, Berio, Carter, Nono and Boulez. It admits passionate readings (such as the Bernstein) and careful, score-bound interpretations (such as Karajan). But it also allows and indeed encourages freer approaches, and that is exactly what Abbado achieves in this recording. Abbado's experience with XX Century music is extensive. He has wonderful recordings of Nono, Bartok and Schoenberg. He has even recorded Ligeti and Boulez, something that Karajan never did. Abbado clearly benefits from this broader perspective to entice the Berlin Phil to produce a wonderful recording. Without resorting to extremes, he allows Mahler to whisper and shout to us his angst and his joy of living. Mahler's 9th is both a farewell to this world, as well as a celebration of the human spirit. Like Beethoven's 9th, a good recording of this symphony should leave the reader entranced. He needs to fell the weight of time in him. And that is precisely the felling I have when listening to Abbado.

This is a fundamental work in a moving rendition.

This Mahler 9th may be equal to Karjan's great (2nd recording) of the work. I have to say was well as the Berlin Philharmonic played for Karajan, they play even better in this recording. Examples of this are found all over the place but to hear playing that is great beyond belif, listen to movments 2 and 3. How Abbado does the opening of the last movement is unique and it does work very well. I liked it alot. This is a classic. Thanks to DG for issuing it.

Greg