Classical music reviews

Why only 4 stars? Because it is not the best of the best in my opinion but it is still great. I own several recordings of Mahler 2 and this recording is an example of a straight ahead Mahler reading. It has been argued that there are 2 approaches to this symmphony the Klemperer style or the Walter syle. Blomstedt avoids excesses of either approach and just tears into the notes in the score. Crystal clear Decca recording makes this one a no brainer.

I agree with Aaron Diestels review. This recording is simply amazing and will leave you breathless. I believe this is the way the composer intended the piece to be played. I too have listened to many recordings and this remains my favorite. The sound quality is top-notch as well. How can one be an atheist after listening to this work? Sure beats me...

I came to this version from the Solti version with the Chicago Symphony. The brass playing and singing was phenomenal, almost drawing attention to itself. The Blomstedt version is much more subtle, there are some beautifully delicate passages in the first three movements that are not as well delineated in the Chicago reading. Another drawback of the Chicago version was the use of an electronic organ at the end (which is ever so slightly out of tune).
Blomstedt is not the first person one thinks of for Mahler, but he is within his means as an expert on Strauss and Bruckner. The San Francisco orchestra and chorus surpass themselves, and the final culmination with a real pipe organ (!) is quite overwhelming. The soloists may not be the finest on record (one thinks of Janet Baker and Arleen Auger with Rattle), but they make an admirable, if not distinctive contribution.
I know San Francisco is planning another recording with Michael Tilson Thomas, which real die-hard Mahlerians should probably wait for, but this recording is superb testimony to what Blomstedt did during his tenure. The age of quality studio recordings with big American orchestras is fading away; this is a milestone recording in many ways.

This collection includes Mahler's "farewell symphony", 9th played amazing by Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Karajan. This is the sudio rec., he made a live recording later, but I think this studio rec. is more powerful and impressive. Especially the first movement is excellent. As you know, Alban Berg called to Mahler as "The God of Music" and Berg admire especially that 1st movement. He described that's the last moments of a hero and death suddenly comes! and he arrives to grave, to peace forever... It is a farewell as well as for his wife, Alma... And the third famous Rondo-Burleske is a pursuit of the devil! It is such a whirling, flamboyant music..

There are two gems: Kindertotenlieder and R�ckert-Lieder, both beautifully sung by Christa Ludwig. Especially when you listen Kindertotenlieder, wou may be weep... That's may be the most drammatic songs in the history of music.

This is includes the complete texts of lieder, even so.
Highly recommended for any Mahler admirer or music lovers.

In terms of value, the famous 1982 live performance of the Mahler Ninth is no bargain compared to the studio version Karajan made just two years previously. Not only is the studio version (under review here) part of a bargain two-fer, but it includes as filler some excellent mid-Seventies performances of Mahler songs with the wonderful Christa Ludwig.

Critics have gravitated to the live Ninth despite its high price as the better of the two performances, although the Gramophone awarded both the same prize when they came out. So the Amazon reviewer's comment that the studio version was "so-so" is ridiculous--the Gramophone itself declares that it is difficult to choose between them. Karajan didn't change his basic tempos (mostly quite broad) or his somewhat detached Apollonian view of the score--detached, that is, compared to the totally involving and emotionally untempered Bernstein, also with Berlin, from 1979. What other orchestra can claim to have made three great Mahler Ninths in the space of three years!

What Bernstein misses that Karajan abundantly supplies is astonishing clarity, virtuosic orchestral playing that stands above any other version on CD except for Abbado with the Vienna Phil., and a total command of line and balance. Those qualities count for a lot, and they are present in both sets. I do think, listening to them side by side, that Karajan got more of everything from the Berlin Phil. under live concert conditions--the whole thing feels more spontaneous, spacious, and alert on the musicians' part. But here we are comparing two superlative accounts. In terms of recorded sound, the digital 1982, as remastered, is excellent in every way, while the earlier analog recording is a bit studio bound with less air and space around the individual instruments.

All in all, these readings are so stupendous in their musicality and virtuosity that it's worth buying them both.

I recently heard the live recording of the Ninth and believe that the former is superlative. There is no background noise, of course, and there is much more control and precision. This Ninth seems to embrace more wholly the spiritual content of the piece, and additionally, the lieder is included for half the price of the live recording. There is no reason why one would not select this over the other.

The reviewer citing the Hendrix analogy is right on. Not a dancer, I can't vouch for the maestro's beats being danceable. However, if soul, or duende, or presence is your cup of meat, then this is your poison. In further agreement to the aforementioned reviewer, the Connoisseur Society's vinyl pressing, vol.2 is THE best thing I've heard of de Plata, on record. Jose Reyes and Manero Ballardo share vocals on several astounding tracks. And they are the equal of de Plata! The undiluted complexity and euphoria issuing from these recordings has no parallel in the de Plata canon! Would that Connoisseur would re-release this material on CD. Fans should also pursue a set of 5 discs, Arcivo del Cante Flamenco, which came out on the Vergara label in the early 80s.

OK. Manitas de Plata "might" not have the techical finesse of Paco de Lucia or Sabicas and all the new players, BUT nobody EVER really rocked it like he did. The pity is that this Carnegie Hall concert CD, great as it is, is not the best representation of his playing. That all happened on the apparently lost recordings made on the Connoisseur Society label back in the 1960s. In 1971, while in Denver, I first heard the legendary Manitas de Plata eponymous LP record on Connoisseur. This is the album that is marked with "Grand Prix de Disque,1968." (Remember this one, flamenco fans?) Manitas is joined by his son Manero Baliardo and his cousin Jose Reyes, who contribute great vocal performances. However, the most moving pieces are the Tarantas and the Malaguenas by Manitas alone. At the time, I could not believe that just one person is playing the guitar. His use of tremelo was astounding. I quickly obtained all his other Connoisseur CDs, including "Juerga" (mentioned below) and "Recital" and eventually wore them out. Alas! They cannot be found on CD! I have combed the internet looking for CD versions. Once you have heard these recordings, you will see why I entitled this CD the Hendrix of Flamenco guitar because that is what he sounds like. Primitive. Raw. Pure emotion and incredible technique. Or as the great electric guitarist John Cippollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service once wrote, "The punk of flamenco." The Carnegie Hall CD will give you a taste. This is how it was back then down in the Camargue at Les Saintes Maries. Both Picasso and Dali were so impressed by him that they drew pictures on his guitar.

If you want to think about virtuosity, without regard to "can you dance to it", De Plata's technical skill, sheer virtuosity, pyrotechnics and improvisations surpass any other guitarist, anywhere, ever.

If you just want lively and listenable---just listen, you'll SEE it and hear it.

This is the best march music CD I have in my collection. It covers a range from Beethoven's "Turkish March" (track 5 and my favorite of the CD) to Sousa. The weakness of the CD comes from the Incredible Columbia All-Star Band tracks. They do a few Sousa marches and the difference between them and the Boston Pops is very noticable. But that's just a minor complaint and certainly nothing to keep you from buying and enjoying this CD.

I provide music for water aerobics classes. The class members are typically retirees, and like Classical music, yet until this CD the only Classical music with a beat distinctive and steady enough for water aerobics that I'd found was on the "Hooked on Classics" series. Thus, for water aerobics, this is a find.

Also contributing to this CD's popularity for water aerobics are that: (1) many of the songs are upbeat, and (2) "new stereo" recordings (in contrast to my recordings of Sousa marches that were played by Sousa himself; he died in the 1930s.)

In Summary, were you to buy just ten CDs for water aerobics classes, this would be one of them.

Knowing very little about classical music, I bought several march compilations a few years back, in hopes that I could develop at least a fanboy level of appreciation. Of the compilations I picked up, this is the one that showed me the most diverse sampling of marches. If you want to become familiar with the march genre, this collection runs away with the blue ribbon, with no contendors close behind. The other compilations I came across focused strictly on the American military marches; they were all very good, but this compilation dishes up a diverse menu, from Ludwig Von Beethoven to John Williams.

This CD has a special place in my collection since it turned me on to John Philip Sousa, who has become one of my favorite composers ever. The Sousa selections on this CD are performed by The Incredible Columbia All-Star Band. I enjoyed these tunes immensely enough to buy some Sousa compilations, and found that while the All-Star Band's take on Sousa tunes is very good, I greatly prefer the releases by The United States Marine Band. The Sousa tunes on this CD are a bit rushed for my taste, while The United States Marine Band's delivery seems more pronounced and evenly paced.

My personal favorite track is Kenneth Alford's "Colonel Bogey" performed by John Williams and The Boston Pops Orchestra. They take Alford's memorable placid march, and shape it into a powerful storm-of-an-orchestral march. Absent are the keyboards prevalent in many renditions of Colonel Bogey, but beautifully replaced with a dynamic orchestra.

It's the variety of marches, however, that steal the show, especially if you are a novice like I am, and want to find out which era of marches is your cup of tea. You get a wide range, from Hector Berlioz's Racoczy March from "Damnation of Faust," to Edwin Bagley's "National Emblem March," to Victor Herbert's "March of the Toys," all the way up to the present day with John William's "The Raider's March" from "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

I am still getting my feet wet learning about marches, and this compilation has given me a great head start. No doubt I'll cringe one day if I read this clumsy description of Sousa and Alford tunes, but for the time being, I am having great fun discovering a whole new school of music. This CD is a great starting point if you want to become familiar with marches.

Just one other comment that will only further display my amateur level of classical music appreciation, but I've just got to say it: JOHN PHILIP SOUSA ROCKS!!! There are very few pieces that sound as happy and uplifting as a Sousa march. I proudly salute Mr. Sousa!

This set is astonishing. The wonderful recording of the Schumann is eclectic, each movement carefully considered and superbly structured, whilst the Webern and Debussy display a level of musical understanding and integrity rarely seen in contemporary pianism. However, the finest items here are the Stravinsky and Liszt B minor. The first of these pretty much defies belief in terms of its technical accomplishment, but there is much more to it than just pyrotechnics. Each section is fiery and impassioned, with the final piece whisking the listener of his feet with sheer ferocity. The Liszt is even more remarkable. From the sullen, brooding introduction the almost unendurable tension never subsides. Right through to the mesmerising and deeply chilling final pages (one of the marvels of the entire pianistic canon) the desperate and often demonic drive of this recording is never easy listening, but as profound and unrelentingly intense a musical experience as one will find from any living pianist. In terms of insight, this knocks most other recordings (Brendel and Argerich especially) out of the park) and offers an interesting alternative to Richter's revelatory version on Philips. Outstanding in every respect.

The Liszt Sonata is overwhelming in the power and poetry that Pollini pours into this piece. The Schubert Pieces are also exquisite in their sheer beauty and yes, poetry. The Webern Variations are done thoughtfully. Petrouchka sounds like a romping fairy tale. Yep, all around it's a good buy and I find Pollini's artistry to be astoundingly complete!

The Liszt Sonata is overwhelming in the power and poetry that Pollini pours into this piece. The Schubert Pieces are also exquisite in their sheer beauty and yes, poetry. The Webern Variations are done thoughtfully. Petrouchka sounds like a romping fairy tale. Yep, all around it's a good buy and I find Pollini's artistry to be astoundingly complete!

Fortuna's pure voice enthralls and subdues you in melodies both haunting and passionate. Timeless lyrics speak life's truths, uncomplicated by today's modern society. The songs and Fortuna's delivery are ART: beautiful, pleasureable, informative.

this exotic music is combined by a masterful use of various instruments and fortunas magical voice.

if oyu ever get a chance do not miss her concert - she will nock your socks off!

Hauntingly beautiful, hypnotic. The music transports you.

As with many others, I stumbled on Fortuna following the inclusion of a selection of her music on a Putamuyo CD (Jewish Odyssey). Her rendition there of "Shalom Aleichem" was mesmerizing, the melody harkening back to primal roots, and it bid me to search out her work.

Given the title of this work, MAZAL, which translates as 'luck', and its inclusion of "Shalom Aleichem," I took a chance first on this album. And with absolutely no regrets, I'd recommend you do the same.

With a work as recorded as this, you can do far better than this recording. There are no real insights here, the playing is curiously perfunctory and detached, and the orchestra is even sloppy in a few areas.

For sheer knock-me-over impact, it's hard to beat Karajan, especially in the finale, where he steamrollers you. (That last forte chord always makes me jump, and I *know* it's coming.) Barbirolli is more interesting for his concept of grim-grim-grim unrelenting marching. Boulez abstracts the work more, making it sound not like Shostakovich, as Sanderling does, but *post* Shostakovich. And Lenny just gives you more sheer heart on the sleeve, especially with the "Alma" theme. Then there's the fiery Mitropoulos and the structural-minded Haitink (in a live performance) and the fleet, cool Szell. (Haven't heard MTT's performance in its entirety yet.) What they all have in common is the ability to whip the orchestra into a frenzy with their personal vision of the work. *That's* what I don't get here. I get 100 musicians playing the right notes (more or less--there are a few slips) but that's all. The first movement doesn't have that relentless drive, except in a sheer mechanical sense, though there are admittedly some sweet moments of repose near the end, some of the most successful moments on the disc. But the coda is slow and underpowered, with thin-sounding trumpets. (The close-miking doesn't help things.) The second movement is fine, and the Andante is probably the best movement overall, but I'm still not swept away by Mahler's bucolic remembrances, by that whistfulness that's in so much of Mahler's slow music, and there's some lackluster violin work at 5:38 (repeated at 5:43) into the movement, especially the first. More crucially, the shifting of moods as we alternate from major to minor just isn't there; I don't get a connection between the various musical episodes in this shifing movement. At 6:33 in the same movement, for example, there's a shining example of repose, for only one bar (but you have to be quick with Mahler); great interpretors make a moment of this, but here it's just played over on the way to the next phrase. And starting at 7:05, another tremendous moment in the descending violins is just neglected. The finale is loud, with lots of banging, but that's mostly it. There isn't the inevitable suction into the maelstrom. A lot of it, now that I think about it, has to do with phrasing and ***weight***, or lack of it. There's *clarity,* as a lot of people have pointed out, but sometimes that works to a disadvantage. Karajan, Barbirolli, Bernstein and Mitropoulos were masters of thickening and thinning the orchestral sound (as was Furtwangler, but he did not record the Mahler 6th--pity) that could sometimes give the illusion of speeding up or slowing down when in fact the tempo hadn't changed. Here the big climaxes, the intervening lulls, are let down, and the performance just moves from section to section. More than any other composer, Mahler demands you understand where you are in the piece at all times and where the piece is going. I don't get that as much here as I'd like. I am admittedly being harsh, but that's only because we live in a world filled with terrific Mahler 6ths, so the competition is hyper-intense. I'd opt for any of the performances I named above over this one, and most are in very good sound too. Recommended only if you must have every recording of the 6th out there.

Many of the great Mahler conductors of the past have produced somewhat problematic interpretation of this work. Evidently it is hard to find the balance in one of Mahler's most demanding scores. By contrast, the Sanderling account sets a new standard on how to balance the extremes of the work without in any way diminishing its musical expressiveness. The interpretation is not so overtly personal and eccentric as Rattle's (EMI), not so rushed as Bernstein's (SONY) and Kubelik's (DG or Audite), it has no exposition cut in the first movement as in Szell's (SONY) and Barbirolli's (EMI), it is not so meticulously literally grasped as Zander's (Telarc) - too loud hammerblows there! - and not so hysterically over-dramatized as Karajan's (DG).

The interpretation is however following mainstream in placing the andante as the third movement. There are just the two hammerblows we know from Mahler's revised edition (compare with Rattle and Zander).

Though presenting the most familiar version, Sanderling's interpretation is a serious contender: we get a very clear and balanced view of the work, and the playing from St Petersburg is very good. In addition, the recorded sound gives a convincing natural stereo picture.

At midprice, thus, there is no reason to hesitate. This record should be in every Mahlerite collection. However, in my view, Sanderling's interpretation is not as compelling as Barbirolli's, Horenstein's (Unicorn-Kanchana), and Mitropolos' (EMI), which I regard as the three first choices.

I think that the Thomas Sanderling/St. Petersburg is the best version of Mahler's 6th that uses conventional tempi. It has almost all of the beauty and passion of the Barbirolli recording, without the idiosyncratic slow timings that annoy some listeners (not this one). Unfortunately the Sanderling now seems to be out of print. Bring it back! In the meanwhile, get the Barbirolli.

I doubt that anyyone hearing this CD without knowing its conductor's reputation would hear anything all that exceptional. The LSO plays well, in fairly good sonics from 1969. Horenstein has made me a believer at times, but I can't help thinking there must be some reason why he was stuck with mediocre (or worse) orchestras until his late years.

True, his history of Mahler conducting runs long and deep, so I try to see him in the same light as Bruno Walter, but their performances of the First Sym. (Walter's mono recording with the NY Phil, not his stereo remake in old age) aren't comparable. Walter's is full of spirit and inishgt that I don't hear in Horenstein's, especially when he gives us big ritards where Mahler doesn't ask for them at the climaxes of the first and last movements. There's no special color to the "dawn in the forest" opening, either. The most appealing thing here is the warm, natural way that Horenstein has with this music in general.

The scherzo is quite strong, however, with just the right exuberant tempo to launch it and lots of Viennese charm in the second theme, complete with unapologetic portamentos. The "Frere Jacques" theme that starts the next movement moves at a clip, without a hint of mock mourning; the solo winda lack the droll character of the playing on Abbado's Berlin recording. The so-called Jewish band music gains flavor from Horenstein's expert use of rubato, without sounding like a crude parody.

Overall, I am giving this CD four stars on the basis of Horenstein's reputation, but it sounds dated to me.

This is one of Horenstein's best Mahler recordings. The interpretation, orchestral playing, and recording quality form a musical unity that is memorable and musically convincing as well. But due to Horenstein's subjective choices, the interpretation is not, in my view, as consistent as Kubelik's (DG or Audite), Walter's (SONY) or Barbirolli's (Dutton), which I consider to be the first choices. For example, the broad tempo choice at the very end is hardly what Mahler indicates in the score.

Buyers should beware of amazon second hand conmen that try to sell this disc for absurd prices. It is better to visit amazon.co.uk and buy this disc for less than $15, brand new.

First Movement - the tempo is just right, neither too fast nor too slow. Leisurely, somewhat slow, in other words perfect for evoking nature.

Second Movement - taken at a nice clip, and definitely "not too fast" per Mahler's instructions in the score.

Third movement - the landler is perfectly played.

Fourth Movement - the opening is cataclysmic, as it should be. the LSO Brass section is awesome. The LSO and Horenstein are kicking...and taking names in this movement. The build up to climaxes is perfectly considered. The big bass drum is great.

The reprise when Mahler brings back the music from the first movement, appears to be almost a suspension of time. Horenstein's extention of the tempo during the climax of the finaly so that the great and beautiful Horn chorale themes can be heard is magnificent - a great majority of conductors simply rush through this section as if their late for a dinner engagement. This recording is justly famous as one of a handful of great Mahler First recordings.

Buy it right away!!

This is a live recording with the Radio Netherlands Phil. Orchestra, now edited in a Mahler integral in Brilliant, the first movt., a "march", is something slow, like in Barbirolli's, I prefer the Haenchen's studio recording of this work in OPUS with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra (Philarmonia Slavonica), from the 80's, an energetic, dinamic, colourful interpretation in only one CD, in a bargain collection. Haenchen is an inmense conductor and I think the appropiate conductor for (for example) Philadelphia or NY orchestras in USA. I recommend you to visit his web direction in "www.haenchen.net" Oscar Olavarria

Visiting Amsterdam for just a few days last Fall, I was delighted to learn that Mahler's 8th was being performed in the Concertgebouw. I was somewhat deflated when I realized it was under the aegis of Hartmut Haenchen with the Netherlands Philharmonic, but the 8th was the only Mahler symphony I'd never heard live, so I wasn't about to miss it. We got 2 of the last 3 tickets when the box office opened; of course the seats were just about the worst possible, directly below the string basses. Not to worry, since in my experience there are no bad seats (acoustically speaking) in that wonderful old hall. We were rewarded with a magnificent performance! We were told this completed Maestro Haenchen's Mahler cycle for Radio Nederland. Ever since, I've been seeking out the others and have found several, including the 6th, and I can highly recommend them all. Granted, the recordings are not state-of-the-art technically speaking, but the dark, rich sound of the Concertgebouw itself shines through for me. I don't even know if the remaining symphonies have ever appeared on CD, but I'm still looking.

Visiting Amsterdam for just a few days last Fall, I was delighted to learn that Mahler's 8th was being performed in the Concertgebouw. I was somewhat deflated when I realized it was under the aegis of Hartmut Haenchen with the Netherlands Philharmonic, but the 8th was the only Mahler symphony I'd never heard live, so I wasn't about to miss it. We got 2 of the last 3 tickets when the box office opened; of course the seats were just about the worst possible, directly below the string basses. Not to worry, since in my experience there are no bad seats (acoustically speaking) in that wonderful old hall. We were rewarded with a magnificent performance! We were told this completed Maestro Haenchen's Mahler cycle for Radio Nederland. Ever since, I've been seeking out the others and have found several, including the 6th, and I can highly recommend them all. Granted, the recordings are not state-of-the-art technically speaking, but the dark, rich sound of the Concertgebouw itself shines through for me. I don't even know if the remaining symphonies have ever appeared on CD, but I'm still looking.

I had some old Mantovani LP's that I loved. This CD set is nice listening, but it sounds like it was recorded with an orchestra half the size of the originals. They are OK, but not what I had hoped for.

Why do another recording? Why not just reissue the LP originals on CD?

I have an original recording C.D. of Mantovani and i expected this to be the same.Good listening but not like the real thing i will be more careful in the future to make sure it is the Maestro

I am looking for the album that has the song Man and Woman.