Tenor Horn Love

 

Boy, do I hate the opening Horn here.

It is so coarse and pushed; it puts my nerves on edge. I notice, particularly in the first movement, the brass as a whole really push the music to the edge of unseemliness.

But perhaps that is all a part of Solti's nightmarish vision of the first three movements in this work.

I sometimes sit and listen to this recording, thinking it is all wrong. Yet, when I get to the 4th mvt., I can't wait for more. Is this more I want of Mahler or is this more I want of Solti and Chicago? Certainly the finale is a purely breathless orchestral showcase for Chicago, but perhaps Mahler's love of nature turns my mood as well.

Well, what I do really like here is the analogue sound from Decca. The instruments positively leap out at the listener, and while some may find this artificial, I find I rarely want an authentic concert hall experience in recordings. After all, I can get that in a concert hall; here I am at the conductor's elbow, with all orchestral voices at my beck and call, including some really clear percussion. Only the opening's massive bass drum moments feature some peaking and crush; otherwise this is in spectacular sound.

A recording from 2024

Mahler’s Symphony no. 7 is the composer’s most experimental. From the fragmentary nature of the finale, across the minor/major unease of the center and opening movements, to the breezy serenades of the guitar and mandolin in the Nachtmusik.

It should come as no surprise that Georg Solti and Chicago from 1971 lean into Mahler’s unique modernist aspects in the work. If the Sixth Symphony was ‘tragic, Solti makes sure the Seventh is a circus nightmare. And yet, the arrival of a calming and eventually heroic finale is sheer virtuosity for this crew.

While I am unsure how I feel about Solti’s vision in this work, the Chicago SO makes it an exciting ride, typical of this conductor’s cycle of Mahler. 

 

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Works
Symphony 7

  I. 21.35
 II. 15.44
III. 9.14
IV. 14.28
 V. 16.27

Performers
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Georg Solti, conductor

Label: Decca
Year: 1971 / 2008
Total Timing: 77.47

 

 
I am uncertain where I stand with Mahler's Symphony no. 7 under Solti and Chicago.

The telling ingredient may be that Solti never went back to the well to rerecord this work digitally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find more Mahler recordings HERE!