Mahler: Symphony No. 6 / Berg: Three Pieces / Schubert: Andante, D936A, No.2

Gustav Mahler (Composer), Berg (Composer), Schubert (Composer), Michael Gielen (Conductor), SWR Symphony Orch. Baden-Baden/Freiburg (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: SWR Symphony Orch. Baden-Baden/Freiburg
• Conductor: Michael Gielen
• Composer: Gustav Mahler, Berg, Schubert
• Audio CD (January 25, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Hanssler Classics
• ASIN: B00005Y4NS
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,743 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Most recordings of Mahler's 6th are by experienced Mahlerians with an affinity for his large-scale works. That makes for a very competitive field, but Gielen fits the profile, and his 6th, part of a projected complete Mahler cycle for Hännsler, is among the best. He surprises right from the start, with a first movement march that's among the slowest on disc, followed by a Scherzo both slower and cooler than usual. This objective approach serves as a buildup for a warm Andante and a truly masterful final movement, a half-hour journey through the symphony's recurring themes and rhythms, which are driven away by the famous hammer blows, here resounding in their impact. Some may prefer the more overt emotionalism of Bernstein and Tennstedt or the excitement of Solti or Chailly, but Gielen's expertly judged buildup from the underplayed opening to the shattering finale commands attention. The substantial fillers add to the set's attractions: an electric Berg Three Pieces as good as any in the catalogue and an affectionate Schubert Andante, from the composer's unfinished 10th Symphony. --Dan Davis

Product Description

Whether your preference is ‘Old Vienna’, Fin de Siècle Vienna or the Second Vienna School, you cannot miss with these recordings from the man who has redefined Mahler interpretation. A shatter interpretation of Mahler’s tragic Sixth Symphony is complimented by a stunning and cohesive reading of Berg’s problematic Three Pieces for orchestra and a thoughtful benediction in the form of Schubert’s melancholy Andante in b minor.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best ever, July 7, 2004

By 

Tan Kar Gee (Singapore) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 6 / Berg: Three Pieces / Schubert: Andante, D936A, No.2 (Audio CD)

I had the honor to have witnessed Maestro Gielen conducting the same orchestra for a performance of this Great symphony at the Berlin Philharmonie hall in September 1999, around the time this recording was made. The experience was unforgettable - the best ever live Mahler performance I've ever witnessed.

Having heard no less than 15 different recordings of the Sixth myself (I collect recordings of the Sixth as an hobby), I have no doubt this is the closest to the "Perfect Sixth" CD, if ever one is allowed to coin such a terminology. This despite the two Bernstein recordings and the Barbirolli, a favorite with many people out there, including myself, until this recording appeared. I've never been a fan of a rushed opening movement, a la Bernstein. To me, the "energico" is the most important word in the tempo Mahler ascribed to this movement "Allegro energico ma non troppo" and slowing it down as Gielen had done (as did Barbirolli and Chailly) certainly gives the movement a more solemn and grandeur feel about it (remember this movement also contains the soaring love-song for Alma - the "other" declaration of his love for Alma on top of the Adagietto).

Of course, the "make-or-break" moments in this symphony are no doubt the "hammer blows" (two or three it doesn't matter to me) and many a recordings had done Mahler injustice by creating less-than-impressive "hammer blows". It should sound "woody", as if a blunt object has blown your chest "THUD!". Try listening to some other recordings (If my memory doesn't serve me wrongly, the highly acclaimed St Petersburg recording fouled up the hammer blows) and compare them with this CD, and you'll know what I mean.

Besides this recording, Gielen's other Mahler recordings are Gems as well - you can read other reviews available on Amazon.

In summary, if you want a recording of "Mahler's" Sixth, rather than "Bernstein's" Sixth or "Zander's" Sixth or "Mehta's" Sixth, this is the recording to have.

It's only my humble opinion - I usually don't write reviews, but I find the lack of a decent recommendation for this recording an injustice to Maestro Gielens' total understanding and sincerity towards Mahler's music.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MAHLER's Sixth?, July 10, 2006

By 

Musicus (Oslo, Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 6 / Berg: Three Pieces / Schubert: Andante, D936A, No.2 (Audio CD)

It is obviously possible to enjoy Gielen's version of Mahler's 6th. But I find it highly controversial when the reviewer below writes «if you want a recording of "Mahler's" Sixth, rather than "Bernstein's" Sixth or "Zander's" Sixth or "Mehta's" Sixth, this is the recording to have», and misleading when the editorial reviewer Dan Davis writes about «the excitement of Solti or Chailly».
The first movement is marked: Allegro energico ma non troppo. Heftig aber markig. So it must be played allegro, even energico so, but not too much, and for those in doubt, Mahler affirms the effect he wants: heftig (vehement, intense, fiery) aber (but) markig (pithy, compact, cogent).
Obviously not all conductors agree with Mahler about the first movement. With a first movement march that's among the slowest on disc, an underplayed opening, the first movement under the baton of Gielen is neither fiery nor compact. Mahler's tempo instructions are impossible to misunderstand; but as there is no worse deaf than the one who doesn't want to hear we get readings like this, in the Barbirolli-tradition, where also Chailly place himself when it comes to this first movement. So this is Gielen's Sixth, not Mahler's.
Besides, there is no similar «excitement of Solti and Chailly», because Solti is as consistently forward pushing as Chailly is consistently composed.
It is of course not prohibited to like Gielen's modus operandi. Moreover, his handling of the remaining movements is naturally less controversial, quite good indeed, and as always by Gielen & the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra, the playing as such is superb; hence my four stars.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Mahler is eccentric but intriguing, the fillers are very good, October 27, 2008

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 6 / Berg: Three Pieces / Schubert: Andante, D936A, No.2 (Audio CD)

The previous reviewer who implies that Gielen is faithful to the socre in the Mahler Sixth lives on an alien planet. It would be hard to find a more eccentric reading. Gielen alters balances (e.g., the startling timpani thwacks at the very outset), ignores tempo markings (Mahler wants an "energetic Allegro" for the first movement; Gielen gives him a heavy-footed Andante), and creates an atmosphere of dread and quiet trepidation that is intriguing but not what the Sixth is about. Gielen can turn tentative as well, as in the flat-footed Scherzo and flavorless Andante.

One thing you can't take away from him, though, is the clever program. Berg's Three Pieces for Orchestra tell us where Mahler's final harmonic ideas eventually led, and by implication a truly modernist light is cast backward on the Sixth. The reconstructed fragment from Schubert's barely sketched-in Tenth Sym., a soothing but rather characterless Andante, conveys a mood of sweet repose after so much tension and turmoil. The SWR SO of Baden-Baden and Freibrug is no great shakes of an orhestra, but they are well drilled and carry off the Berg and Schubert works better than the Mahler symphony, which has been done superbly by the lofty Berliners and Viennese, among others.

In all, I think this double CD will appeal to the fairly sizable Gielen cult in Europe but not to the general American listener, unless one wants to hear the Sixth turned into an unfamiliar work.