Mahler: Symphony No. 8

Alfred Orda (Performer), Arnold van Mill (Performer), Jascha / Blythe, Alan Horenstein (Composer), Gustav Mahler (Composer), Jascha Horenstein (Conductor), London Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Agnes Giebel (Performer), Joyce Barker (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Alfred Orda, Arnold van Mill, Agnes Giebel, Joyce Barker
• Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Jascha Horenstein
• Composer: Jascha / Blythe, Alan Horenstein, Gustav Mahler
• Audio CD (March 23, 1999)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: BBC Legends
• ASIN: B00000I9WX
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,670 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Jascha Horenstein in Conversation with Alan Blyth: Introduction: Highlights of his career

2. Jascha Horenstein in Conversation with Alan Blyth: First encounters with Mahler's music

3. Jascha Horenstein in Conversation with Alan Blyth: On Schoenberg, Berg and Webern

4. Jascha Horenstein in Conversation with Alan Blyth: On Bartók, Janácek, Nielsen and Furtwängler

5. Jascha Horenstein in Conversation with Alan Blyth: On Richard Strauss

6. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part One. Hymnus: Veni, creator spiritus. Veni, creator spiritus!

7. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part One. Hymnus: Veni, creator spiritus. Imple superna gratia

8. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part One. Hymnus: Veni, creator spiritus. Infirma nostri corporis

9. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part One. Hymnus: Veni, creator spiritus. Tempo 1. (Allegro, etwas hastig)

10. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part One. Hymnus: Veni, creator spiritus. Infirma nostri corporis

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part Two. Final Scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 2: Poco adagio

2. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part Two. Final Scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 2: Waldung, sie schwank he

3. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part Two. Final Scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 2: Ewiger Wonnebrand

4. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part Two. Final Scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 2: Wie Felsenabgrund mir z

5. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part Two. Final Scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 2: Gerettet ist das edle G

6. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part Two. Final Scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 2: Jene Rosen, aus den Hän

7. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part Two. Final Scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 2: Uns bleibt ein Erdenres

8. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part Two. Final Scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 2: Ich spür' soeben / Hier

9. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part Two. Final Scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 2: Äußerst langsam. Adagis

10. Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ('Symphony of a Thousand'): Part Two. Final Scene from Goethe's Faust, Part 2: Bei der Liebe, die den

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The BBC finally opened its archives and has since been pouring forth generously with gems once only rumored to exist. This performance of Mahler's monumental Eighth Symphony was taped live in London's Royal Albert Hall on March 20th, 1959, and marked only the fourth time it had been performed in London and the first time the great Mahlerian Jascha Horenstein had conducted it. It so stunned the packed hall--nearly 6,000 people attended--that it could be seen as the start of the Mahler revival in England; previously the critic for The Times had written, "We don't want Mahler here." Performed after much rehearsal, but never with all the disparate elements at the same time, this set leaves almost all the other recorded versions in the dust. In excellent mono sound, beautifully remastered, we hear things we never get in Mahler--I won't pick and choose, but suffice it to say that while almost all of this symphony tends to be effective, not all of it always sounds beautiful; Horenstein and the London Symphony, various soloists, and choruses play it not to stun (as more recent conductors do) but to introduce it. I've heard this work dozens of times, a couple of them live, and this set is the most effective presentation of this complex work I've encountered. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The HOTTEST Mahler 8th ever!, April 6, 1999

By A Customer

During his life, Jascha Horenstein was grossly underrated as a Mahler conductor of the first rank. Despite his choice of not wanting a regular conducting post where he could polish his magnificent interpretations with an orchestra that understood his intentions with Mahler and other composers, his existing recordings show that the conceptions he shaped of these works far outshined the shortcomings in performance quality that exist. However, near the end of his life, his stature as a Mahler conductor had grown to the point where he became increasingly in demand to present these interpretations either in concert or in the studio with first-rank orchestras. During these occasions, a tape recorder was nearly always running to preserve Horenstein's performances.

It was almost certainly this performance of Mahler's 8th that catapulted Horenstein to fame as one of the top interpreters of that composer. At the very end of his life, Horenstein had just committed to disk, a studio recording of the Mahler 3rd Symphony, the second and last significant Mahler document that assured his fame as a Mahler interpreter who would be long remembered. But back to the performance at hand.

In one of those too-good-to-be-true occasions that confront us from time to time in our lives, Horenstein was presented the opportunity to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in a special concert where there was, oddly enough, extra money found to spend on a large program, and what other work than the gigantic Mahler 8th Symphony could be found to present as an expenditure of that surplus? From October, 1958 to the performance on March 20, 1959, soloists, choruses, a performance hall (the Royal Albert Hall) and an undetermined number of rehearsals were hastily arranged. The fruits of these efforts are much evident on these two CDs, as is the dedication of those involved, particularly that of Horenstein, who most certainly gave the performance of his life. The intensity of performance causes one to dismiss what mistakes exist in the execution.

I have had this performance on LP records for a good while on the semi-private Bruno Walter Society label, which used an early stereo LP studio master pressing in poor condition of this performance as the source. It is good to now hear this performance in its full glory with the original concert tapes as the recorded source, and the sound is very good overall, for its age.

In short, buy this CD to hear one of the hottest recorded Mahler performances ever! This Mahler 8th sits atop the heap of all the others, and should remain there for a long time to come.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The grandest 8th of them all, March 25, 2003

By	Jim Rickman (Sudbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Horenstein's live interpretation of Mahler's 8th stands apart from any other Mahler's 8th I have heard. I have heard this work twice in live concerts -- once by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and once by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I also have many different CD recordings of it. While I have been impressed by Solti's interpretation and others as well, they all pale by comparison to Horenstein's, which is simply overwhelming in its scope and grandeur. If I were able to roll the clock back and hear just two live concerts of this symphony, the first would be the premier conducted by Mahler himself in Munich in 1910, and the second would be this performance conducted by Horenstein in London in 1959, which I'm sure played a big part in the Mahler advent in England. The cheering at the end of the performance only begins to tell of what a deeply profound musical experience this must have been. An absolute must for all Mahler fans. If I could, I would give this 10 stars.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the interpretive documents of the century., May 14, 1999

By A Customer

There really isn't much you can say. If you don't have this, buy it. If you don't like Mahler, buy it. If you love Mahler and have every other version of the 8th, buy it. Forget Bernstein--it was this stunning, earth-shattering performance that set in motion the international Mahler revival. Horenstein was the arguably the greatest Mahler conductor of all and this performance, along with his studio 3rd, is ample evidence for that claim. An absolutely withering, numbing, staggering, once-in-a-lifetime performance, in gloriously remastered sound. Buy this.