In Comparison

 

I just like this music!

I will admit, when it comes to comparisons of recordings in Mahler Symphonies, my skills are not great.

The problem is, I like the music. With music I treasure, I tend not to revisit them often, in order to keep the music fresh and cherishable. With repeated listenings, and a clinical ear, the dazzle, the intimate moments, the specialness wears off.

So while I really enjoy the symphonies of Mahler, I do not listen to them often, and certainly do not often compare recordings for comparison's sake.

What I can say, is I prefer this performance from Solti over his Chicago one. The strongest reason being the soloists, whom I don't really like in Chicago. In any review of the Chicago SO, one is most certainly going to run across mentions of their brass section. As I see it however, in both Symphony 1 & 2 with Solti & London, the brass are just as fine, if not more persuasive. If there is a demerit, the pipe organ at Kingsway Hall is all but lost on my ears in the finale, where as the Chicago Orchestra Hall organ has a mighty presence.

The early digital sound in Chicago is a tad clinical and bright too, offering less of Mahler's rustic pleasures, so I generally prefer the analogue sound in these Decca London SO recordings in comparison too. But it is all for nought, since both ensembles are led to rip-roar through these symphonies, and both have their qualities.

As it is, it is just nice to sit back and enjoy Mahler's Resurrection Symphony.

A review from 2024

Mahler’s 2^nd Symphony is such a good time; I always enjoy visiting it, both on record and in the concert hall. The work gives the listener such a clear and worthwhile musical journey from its start through its 80-minute runtime.

 

If you enjoy Solti’s vision of Mahler, usually brisk and exciting, his 60’s London SO recordings are preferrable over his later Chicago SO ones. The conductor’s approach is much the same, but there is a sense of spontaneity in London, whereas Chicago can be coolly calculated. Both have much to offer however, and Solti was particularly fine with Mahler’s early symphonies especially, so you really can’t go wrong with either.

 

If torn betwixt the two, this one is simply a better choice due to the soloists in the finale, here Heather Harper and Helen Watts, of which, the latter joins Solti in London for Mahler’s Symphony 3 as well. Both singers have a gravitas which are missing amongst their Chicago counterparts.

 

This is a good recording to set beside Decca’s other treasured 70’s recording with the Vienna Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta, another electric, exciting version.

 

 Listen on YouTube

 

Works
Symphony 2 in C minor 'Resurrection'

  I. 21.15
 II. 10.36
III. 10.14
IV. 4.27
 V. 34.28

Soloists
Heather Harper, soprano
Helen Watts, contralto

Ensembles
London Symphony Chorus
London Symphony Orchestra
Georg Solti, conductor

Label: Decca
Year: 1966 / 2007
Total Timing: 80.53

 

 

Let's sit back and enjoy this music, and not worry about this and that as being better than another.

Of course, if Solti is not your cup of tea, take the idea and run it with your preferred Mahler-ian.

For me, this is it!

 

 

 

 

 

Find more Mahler recordings HERE!