Mahler: Symphony No. 6 [Hybrid SACD] [Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import]

Mahler (Composer), Valery Gergiev (Conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Valery Gergiev
• Composer: Mahler
• Audio CD (April 8, 2008)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import
• Label: Lso Live UK
• ASIN: B0013V9RHW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,442 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Allegro energico, ma non troppo

2. Andante moderato

3. Scherzo: Wuchtig

4. Finale: Allegro moderato

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars truly exciting and quite fast (but not THE fastest), April 8, 2008

By 

B. Guerrero "Mahler nutcase" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 6 [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

First, the facts: Gergiev's Mahler 6 is in andante/scherzo order, and has two hammer strokes (not 3). Timings are, I - 21:59; II - 13:53; III - 12:34: IV - 28:45. Now the review.

I completely concur with the previous reviewer. It's unfortunate that Gergiev has been taking a lot of flack for his Mahler in the London press, but there's no way for us outsiders to judge his results beyond this first release. But if you're going to take a fast and furious approach to any Mahler symphony, the "tragic" 6th one is a great place to start - especially given the rather lean and mean, British sportscar-like attack and sound-world of the LSO; combined with The Barbican's relatively dry acoustics. This orchestra knows their Mahler as well as any on the planet, and they always respond best to conductors who bring some genuine excitement to the table. Just think back on some of these golden oldies with the LSO: Solti M1; Horenstein M1; Stokowski M2; Bernstein M2; Kaplan M2; Horenstein M3; Benjamin Britten's M4; Rudolf Schwarz M5; Jame De Preist M5 (great playing, but De Preist ruins the ending by slowing down waaaay too soon); Levine M6 (Gergiev is even better!); Tilson-Thomas M7 (really better than his S.F. one); Bernstein M8 (hugely underrated!); Leopold Ludwig M9; Solti M9 . . and on and on it goes.

Yes, Gergiev is a tad fast with the symphony's opening march, but he's joined by some very illustrious company from previous decades: Bernstein, Kubelik, Solti, Karajan, Kondrashin - all these guys were quick goose-steppers. Mahler writes "Allegro energico, ma non troppo". All that he's asking for is an energetic allegro, but no faster. In my opinion, many conductors and critics have been making too big a deal of the "non troppo" part of that description. The more important issue, however, is whether the conductor succeeds in achieving sufficient contrast between the opening march - fast or slow - and the movement's contrasting second subject; the so-called "Alma theme". I believe that Gergiev does. Better yet, unlike with Haitink's latest Chicago go-around on Mahler 6, Gergiev builds up steam and genuine excitement (imagine that!) in the movement's concluding coda passage, but without the kettle drums drowning everybody out - a way too frequent occurrence (Haitink is just sluggish throughout).

Andante: thank goodness that somebody these days can observe Mahler's "andante moderato" tempo description. In fact, the word "langsam" (slow) never appears once in the score (it's all over the famous Adagietto from Mahler 5!). Gergiev clocks in just a few seconds short of 14 minutes, which is pretty much what Mahler himself consistently clocked-in at. More important - and again, unlike Haitink/CSO - Gergiev just nails the first "Alpine" passage, located just five minutes in: ascending, unison horns; on-stage cowbells; naive sounding solo trumpet; swirling violin trills - all of this simply couldn't have been done any better.

Scherzo: this is the second best scherzo I've ever heard in M6; the best being Simon Rattle on both of his recordings (a live Berlin one does exist). Mahler's numerous, sudden tempo shifts all pivot on a dime here, just as they should. In addition, Gergiev plays up Mahler's deliberate sound effects, so that the scherzo sounds as spooky - downright expressionistic, really - as it does nervous. Let's face it, this is Mahler at his halloween best.

Finale: well, it just gets better! Gergiev unleashes the strings, brass, and percussion of the LSO (woodwinds are a bit recessed), and they have themselves quite a field day. But there's some genuine thinking and a few subtleties displayed here too. For example, I like how Gergiev speeds up while approaching the first hammer-stroke, but approaches the second one with great trepidation - the soldiers feeling reluctant to get themselves sucked into another huge cataclysm. The final allegro "charge" passage is outstanding, and I like how he gets his low brass to play with lots of sleezy vibrato in the slow, funereal dirge that follows. But now I'd like to draw your attention to another big contrasting point between this M6, and the Haitink/CSO one - released on the same day by the same distributor, no less!

The final allegro (fast) "charge" section - starting about 18 minutes in - is capped by a brief but important passage that I like to call, "the false victory parade". Both Gergiev and Haitink get their horns to loudly belt out that victory parade tune (Haitink slows down for it), but Gergiev is far better in bringing out the percussion underneath it. This is yet another example of the CSO percussion sounding too reticent under the excellent Chicago brass at a critical climactic juncture (but I'll save all that for a more appropriate review). Gergiev is excellent here, as he is with everything else in the last 10 minutes of the symphony. My only complaint is minor one: I would prefer that Gergiev had been slower with the symphony's final A-minor outburst at the very end (Chailly does that superbly!). But when everything else in the finale is executed so well, it's a very minor complaint indeed.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars a disappointing 'Tragic', August 24, 2008

By 

Rodney W. Helt "Mahlerophile" (Verona. WI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 6 [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Well, the recorded competition to this new Gergiev 'Tragic' is just too strong to allow a positive review. About the same time of release came Haitink's live recording with the Chicago Symphony. A direct comparison leaves a clear preference, Haitink! To my thinking, this symphony requires a conductor with a grand sense of architectural structure. Gergiev's release sounds like a fleet-footed run through compared to Haitink. The distant sound stage provided by his engineers certainly didn't help reveal Mahler's detailed musical fabric. A disappointing start to the LSO's new Mahler cycle.
So I would recommend the budget Levi on Telarc or Karajan on DG for best of show. Mitropoulos 1960 NY Philharmonic radio check is the best historic release.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A not so subtle Mahler 6, April 29, 2008

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Christopher OBrien "Tam Tam" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 6 [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

This reading has left me feeling a little short of excited. The adrenaline rush is there on a superficial level, but that ultimately wears off as it becomes apparent that the multitude of shadings, colors and moods of this piece are just not being explored to the extent that I desire from this particular symphony. Does anybody here remember Spinal Tap? Well, in that film the guitarist refers to his amplifier that "goes to 11". Well, this reading steps up to 11 and doesn't ever seem to let up, and the conductor does not explore the various contours of the score. For my tastes this can become rather numbing. There is no denying that there is energy and plenty of sturm und drang to go around for everyone and I certainly appreciate that in my Mahler. However, there needs to be more variation within the reading in order for me to fully immerse myself in the piece. Eschenbach and Fischer and two examples of conductors with recent readings that cover the entire emotional spectrum. And then there's Bernstein I and II, Levi, Kubelik, Chailly and Bertini among others. Simply, there are many more engaging 6ths out there for your consideration, and if you do enjoy this reading then I urge you to supplement it with others.