Mahler: Symphony No. 8 / Popp · Auger · Minton · Harper · Kollo · Shirley-Quirk · Talvela · Chicago SO · Solti

Yvonne Minton (Artist), René Kollo / Martti Tavela (Artist), John Shirley-Quirk (Artist), Vienna State Opera Chorus (Performer), Gustav Mahler (Composer), Sir Georg Solti (Conductor), Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Arleen Auger (Performer), Singverein Chorus (Performer), Vienna Boys Choir (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Vienna State Opera Chorus, Arleen Auger, Singverein Chorus, Vienna Boys Choir
• Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Sir Georg Solti
• Composer: Gustav Mahler
• Audio CD (August 10, 1999)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B00000JXZ8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,392 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nearly 30 Years Old, And Still One of The Best!, April 30, 2000

By 

Bob Zeidler (Charlton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 8 / Popp · Auger · Minton · Harper · Kollo · Shirley-Quirk · Talvela · Chicago SO · Solti (Audio CD)

I remember well this recording from my LP days. Regrettably, in my conversion over time from LPs to CDs, this somehow got lost in the shuffle. Truly dumb! But Decca has saved the day with a totally fresh remastering on a single CD, and at a bargain price to boot!

I find myself both agreeing and disagreeing with some of the previous reviewers (but, in the main, agreeing). Over the years, I've owned, listened to, and eventually discarded, several versions (Abravanel, Kubelik, Mitropolous, Scherchen come quickly to mind) and have put the two Bernstein recordings in storage for at least a while pending some time to rethink those performances through. The only other one remaining active in my collection is the Shaw, about which I make some brief comparisons to Sir Georg's along the way.

I think that, in my time, only Bernstein and Solti really got it all together in this monster piece. To a true Mahlerite (as opposed to someone who simply gets off on the wall of sound and the "occasion" nature of the work), this may be the most difficult of all Mahler symphonies to pull off with the right conviction, because it is equal parts cerebral and visceral. And it can fail in a major way if any one of the required elements (soloists, choruses, orchestra, dynamics, pacing, coherence and "the catching of the long arc" that is essential in the second part) is lacking.

In the cold, hard light of day, Solti is the winner. He is the disciplinarian that Bernstein is not, with an absolutely hair-trigger performance from the orchestra, and he is afforded better sound than either Bernstein recording. The presence of Kollo, Shirley-Quirk and Talvela guarantee a performance for the ages. Solti gauges the dynamics in the second section absolutely perfectly. I will listen to it again and again. The new "Legends" transfer is a marvel when one considers its date (1971).

Not having heard the LP version in a number of years, there were a few minor "reacquaintance" adjustments I found myself having to make:

- The sound stage comes across in a way which I do not remember from the LP version. The brass (except for the horns) sound as if they were behind a fairly heavy scrim except for when the choruses are not singing. Perhaps this is simply a matter of the singers sitting down and getting out of the way, a subtlety that was not apparent on LP nearly 30 years ago.

- The soloists are miked a little too closely for my taste. But they are unquestionably the greatest group of soloists ever assembled for a performance of this work, so I can readily look past this minor point.

- The chorus runs out of gas at the end of Veni, Creator Spiritus and thereby loses some of the cumulative impact that this "rush to an ecstatic finish" needs to have.

These are all very minor points, and should deter no one from acquiring this enduring performance.

I find myself agreeing with rac22 on the "good" and "less than good" Mahler from Solti and that this is the best Mahler that Solti ever did, because he did get the cerebral details correct (as in the long orchestral introduction to the Faust scene). I also find myself agreeing with Conrad Weisert on the matter of the performances of the choruses. Had the work been recorded in Chicago instead of Vienna, we would have had the benefit of the contributions of Margaret Hillis, which are exceeded only by those of her mentor, Robert Shaw.

For those wanting a third version behind the Solti and either Bernstein, I recommend the Shaw for both the choruses and for his own sense of dynamics and pacing (which largely mirror Solti's, with a total timing difference of only nine seconds spread out over nearly 80 minutes). Shaw's choruses win out easily, and do lift the roof off the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta at the end of Veni, Creator Spiritus. The sound is the usual Telarc state-of-the-art. But the organ is anemic, the ASO is not the CSO, and Shaw, while having excellent and sympathetic female soloists, does not have Kollo, Shirley-Quirk and Talvela.

Bob Zeidler

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One-in-a-million performance of the "Sym. of a Thousand"!, April 24, 2004

By 

R. Lane (Tracy, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 8 / Popp · Auger · Minton · Harper · Kollo · Shirley-Quirk · Talvela · Chicago SO · Solti (Audio CD)

It is almost inconeivable that one could possibly experience the Mahler 8th symphony in the confines of your home. As the title suggests, the forces required to pull it off are more massive than ever assembled before, or since.

And Decca pulled out all of the stops in putting together what can only be described as one of the most stunning achievements in the history of recorded music.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with an out-of-this-world horn section so aptly appropriate for the work, were moved to Vienna to join forces with three outstanding choirs (the Vienna State Opera Chorus, the Vienna Singverein, and the Vienna Boys Choir) in a recording venue far better suited to the massive forces than would have been available in Chicago (the Vienna Sofienaal) and where there was a far better organ to capture the opening with all of its magnificence. On top of that, all 8 soloists are top notch.

I won't repeat what so many others have said about the sound. It qualifies as a miracle in my opinion.

Experiencing this in your living room with any satisfaction is miraculous indeed, but then experiencing this so well done in the concert hall would probably be even more miraculous. For those who say you cannot compare the concert experience to the what you get in recordings, the recording playback environment being seen as inferior to the experience in the concert hall, I dare them to try to put together an experience today in a concert that would come anyhwere close to what you get here. And do it on a reasonable budget too!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The First Recording to Get it Right, August 19, 1999

By 

Brandon H. Borrman (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 8 / Popp · Auger · Minton · Harper · Kollo · Shirley-Quirk · Talvela · Chicago SO · Solti (Audio CD)

Solti has doen a remarkable job on this recording. Already legendary, and often hailed as the single greatest version of No.8, the new transfer only adds to its appeal. There is an electricity here, a feeling that almost leads you to believe this concert was recorded live. Yes, as with all Solti's Mahler, the climaxes are impressive and expansive, but the quieter more intrspective moments are what really shine in this recording. Though No.8 may be a failure as a symphony, it is an amazing piece of music. The recording brings out the awe inspiring orchestral lines and keeps the gigantic choral foces from becoming a muddy mass. The new tranfer keeps the analog warmpth, while cleaning up and sharpening many of the more subtle textures. A trully wonderful achievement, and by far the greatest bargin of the available recordings.