Customer Reviews

Mahler: Symphony No. 3 In D Minor - Horenstein

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Bruno Walter visited Mahler during the summer of 1896, and was at one point awestruck by the majestic beauty of the mountains surrounding Steinbach-am-Attersee. During that contemplative moment alone with his student, Mahler uttered his famous quote: "No need looking up there - That has all been composed by me!" The symphony he referred to was, of course, the Third. The fact that this is an all-encompassing symphony does not automatically dictates its grandeur in every performance. Many performances lose sight in the demanding details on which the music is built, and from which the music extracts its Herculean scope. No recorded performance distills the essence of the music to such humbling grandness as Horenstein's. The drama of nature, significant or mundane, is meticulously documented by Mahler in this symphony, and presented with almost imperceptible interference by the performers. The LSO musicians is in their top form and the Posthorn solo is the best I have heard, live or recorded. Horenstein handles every musical suspense masterfully, and the musical climaxes erupt with raw power matched only by the force of nature. The recording is marred by less than ideal sound (some of the more opulent orchestral details are lost) but it's still good quality considering the year it was recorded. This flaw should be completely overlooked judging from the value of the interpretation. This is an absolutely insightful and important rendition for anyone interested in studying the Third. In every playful tune and in every heart-breaking despair, in the most earth-shattering blasts and in the softest whispers, it takes Horenstein and the LSO to show that the Third Symphony is not only structurally grand, but also spiritually profound.

Most lovers of Mahler---be they devoted or fleeting---find his Symphonies No 1, 4, or 5 to be the most accessible. The Symphony No 8 is rarely heard because of the large number of performers required, while the 2nd is heard fairly often despite nearly similar requirements. Lost among this list is the 'Great' Symphony No 3: a vast sea of music and emotion that is rarely tackled in the present day probably due to its sheer length (more than 100 minutes in most performances).

The 3rd symphony is a unique piece of classical music in that virtually every human emotion can be found among its six movements and many pages. While Mahler later discounted his programmatic descriptions of the movements, they genuinely provide insight into this work. The first movement, as long as anything Bruckner ever wrote, describes the awakening of the world and begins with a glorious horn soli that can be found nowhere else than in Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony. The work passes by the animals and flowers, finally arriving in the wisdom of children and love in the 5th and 6th movements, respectively. The finale ends with one of the most beautiful yet dramatic passages in all of late German Romanticism.

Jascha Horenstein is not a marquee name conductor, but this one recording from the early 1970s vaulted him to exalted status among aficionados of the Mahler symphonies. He draws a top-notch performance from an orchestra which is not among the world's best. The horn section plays with remarkable sound and intonation, the trombone, posthorn, and violin solos are all among the best to be found in any recording, and the pace of the entire work is careful laid out to the listener. I first purchased the LP two decades ago, and it has remained among my most treasured recordings. While Bernstein's recording with the New York Philharmonic in the 1960s is thought by many to be the most exciting or definitive, or the recording by Levine with the Chicago Symphony as having the greatest overall sound, the Horenstein recording attains the best overall performances and unity of expression.

Mahler's Third Symphony is an absolute landmark in the symphonic literature, completely reconceptualizing the rhetoric and structure of that genre. Not only the length and the number of movements are dramatically expanded, but more importantly the discourse is expanded as well. Nothing like the first movement had existed before, and to a lesser extent the other movements (especially the third, with its juxtapositions of posthorn solo and scherzo; and the fifth, juxtaposing cheerful children's choir with lunatic darkness) break new ground also. The work places extreme demands on the audience and the orchestra (Mahler actually travelled with his own trombone soloist when he conducted this around Europe!) and has not become a staple of the repertoire for these reasons.

An incredibly awesome artistic vision it is, not only innovative but also emotionally appealing. Jasha Horenstein's direction of the London Symphony Orchestra is completely convincing and does Mahler's vision justice. Legendary trombonist Dennis Wick does a superb job with the longest orchestral trombone solo in the literature, portraying the awakening of the god Pan. William Lang's flugelhorn performance of the posthorn solo is unearthly in its beauty, and the London Symphony's horn section absolutely shines throughout in an incredibly demanding part. Contralto Norma Procter is not especially compelling in the fourth movement, however, and the Wandsworth School Boys' Choir and the Ambrosian Singers are not particularly noteworthy in the penultimate movement. Other reviewers have criticized the recording quality, but I have no such concerns--it seems crisp to me, with a suitably wide dynamic range and important details, such as the rute in the second movement, are clear and vibrant.

Where I am concerned is the price, which seems ridiculous for a two CD set recorded in the 70s. I'm very disappointed in Unicorn-Kanchana, who seem to be deliberately exploiting the popularity of this particular recording among ardent Mahler-philes. And people wonder why Classical music recordings are in such dire straits. You'll have to decide for yourself whether the recording is worth the money, but remember that Mahler's not getting a piece of the action, and I'm pretty sure Horenstein and the LSO's bite are fairly insignificant. Still, from the overwhelmingly powerful first movement to the absolutely transcendent finale, Mahler's Third is a completely remarkable piece and this is a compelling rendition; perhaps at twice the price it would still be a bargain.

Is this recording overpraised, overhyped, overrated by ardent Mahlerites? I don't think it is--as long as you don't expect to be clunked over the head by it. Instead of flooring you, this difficult-to-find 1970 classic wins you over by degrees, until you come to understand that this is the way Mahler's glorious, 97-minute hymn to Nature and God is supposed to go. A couple of potentially significant blemishes--some less-than-precise orchestral playing and a less-than-stellar recording job--pale into insignificance here. Nobody else has gotten it quite as "right" as Horenstein, although that still leaves room for some artistically successful also-rans, any one of which could be the top recommendation if it weren't for this. By the way, there IS another way of acquiring this recording besides hunting high and low and paying through the nose: a very inexpensive boxed set on Brilliant Classics (it may even be available thru [Amazon.com]) that not only costs less than the "collector's prices" you might have to pay, but gives you the other eight symphonies (not conducted by Horenstein, sad to say) in the bargain!

This is, above all, a collector's item. It has its place in every Mahler CD collection because it is a famous recording. But even if it probably is a first choice as such, I do not think that it is the "definitive" view on the Mahler third.

First, as an interpretation, we have to note Horenstein's typical refusal of following Mahler's indications of tempo changes. This is especially the case in the first movement which goes on like a bandwagon. Further, Horenstein completely ignores the marking "hinaufziehen" for the oboe solo in the fourth movement and lets the soloist play the passage as if no such indication exists in the score. On recordings contemporary with Horenstein's, for example Kubelik's (DG), there is at least a try of playing it legato. Listen to Abbado's recent live recording (DG) for realizing how this striking detail can and possibly should be performed. Considering the finale, a disturbing feature is the timpani beats that are played far too loud in the final bars. They are marked f in the score but Horenstein interprets them as fff.

The orchestra plays good but not always great. Sometimes playing is even irritatingly bad, especially since mistakes could have been corrected in the studio. For instance, one annoying mistake appears in the crucial horn solo after the great outburst close to the end of the third movement. Here everything MUST be executed as clear and subtle as possible, but the player slips on a note. Since this is a studio take Horenstein should have corrected this flaw with an alternate take. In spite of this, admittedly, there are also some great interpretational moments in this movement. For example, the Horenstein account of the final bars is probably the best we have on record.

Finally the sound on this CD incarnation could probably have been better. The sound is a bit harsh, at least to my ears.

As deeply satisfying performances I like Abbado's latest (DG), Asahina's (Canyon), Gielen's (Hänssler), Barbirolli's (BBC Legends) and Kubelik's (DG or Audite) most of all. These interpretations are first class and well recorded (the engineering for Abbado, Asahina, and Gielen is outstanding). I recommend these as first choices. But completists and collectors should of course have the Horenstein as well. From my criticism you should not infer that I think Horenstein is a bad Mahler conductor: he gives always an interesting but, here and there, not an entirely compelling view of Mahler's music. Therefore I think the ordinary music consumer should consider some alternatives.

(Instruction for prospective buyers: avoid the expensive offers from conmen operating here at Amazon. You can buy this CD brand new at Amazon in the UK, where it will cost you less than $30.)

As virtually every other reviewer here says, this is one of the all-time great Mahler Thirds; at or near the top on almost everyone's list...but don't get taken to the cleaners by some "opportunist" charging like $85 for it on the marketplace! First of all, inexplicably it does turn up in used CD bins occasionally; but, most importantly, as of the time I'm writing this review, the reissue label Brilliant Classics, has issued it as part of a boxed set of Mahler Symphonies. Now, granted, none of the other performances in the box are likely to make your top 10 list--and it's a little bit difficult to understand why, having licensed it, Brilliant decided to market it that way--but at less than $70 on Amazon (and cheaper elsewhere) it's a helluva lot better than paying $85 for a "mint used" copy!

I have to respect L. Johan Modée's review because he compares the performance to the score and finds the performance lacking. However, I don't have the score (nor an Ormandy recording) to compare it to so I have to go with my gut feeling. I have always felt that this is an excellent--if not definitive--recording of the third. It just sounds right, even if it isn't played exactly the way Mahler indicated. If better recordings exist then I could change my loyalty after hearing one. But for now. This is it.

It really is a pity that this is out of print. It is hard to justify the high used prices for this recording when there are plenty of other great Mahler 3rd's to choose from.

The London Symphony Orchestra plays with much passion, although lacking in technicality (a problem that seems to be consistent with all of Horestein's Mahler recordings, particularly the 6th and Das Lied). Certain areas are more noticeable than others, but as a whole, i do not find their sub-par performance to detract from the recording.

The standout of this performance is, in my opinion, the first movement. Horenstein brings out the conflict and struggle between good and evil with more passion and depth than any I have heard. It is not easy for a 34 minute movement to be so gripping all the way through, but Horenstein pulls it off.

Norma Proctor's performance on the 4th movement is spectacular, as is the boy's choir in the 5th movement, bursting in with one of the most charming performances I have heard for this piece. For the final movement, I prefer Horenstein's tempo and phrasing more than any other performance I have heard, although Bernstein and Kubelik both have equally fine interpretations.

The sound quality is pretty good, if a little unbalanced. From the very opening of the first movement, you can immediately tell that the sound engineers favored the deep resonance of the timpani to dominate.

This is a highly recommended performance, a true classic. It is worth keeping your eye out for a good used deal. They tend to run over 50 dollars in the used market... At that price, I would turn to Kubelik, Chailly, Bernstein or Barbirolli. Have hope though, because I have seen Horenstein's 3rd at a few used record stores over the past couple of years.

I do not excel at writing music reviews, but the general consensus in the Mahler world is that no finer recording of any one Mahler work has been made. There are those that may try to send you towards Bernstein or Chicago/Solti, but this is _the one_, if such a thing is possible.

Horenstein conducts the fine London Symphony Orchestra (most of his conducting was with lesser orchestras), and a quality recording is made as well.

A must have for any Mahlerite.

Those who accuse this music of being vulgar, bombastic, inflated should listen to this performance. They may then revise their characterization of this work to one of being powerful, majestic, profound, for these are the pre-eminent qualities of this performance. Horenstein's steady tempos, incisive phrasing and balancing of textures impart coherence and cumulative force to the long spans over which the music develops. However, some might miss the qualities of volatility, fancifulness and more overt emotionalism that others such as Bernstein convey.
Furthermore, the sound, though dryish, especially in the strings, has excellent dynamic range.
What a pity that this wonderful recording is no longer domestically available. Would someone please restore it to the catalogue, hopefully remastered with current techniques to further improve the sound.