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Discussion: Mahler: Symphony No. 9 - Fischer

Posts: 36
Page: prev 1 2 3 4 next

Post by james_joyce April 25, 2015 (11 of 36)
fausto K said:

Judging from the timings for the movements alone, it is probably safe to assume this is not going to become a reference Mahler 9, notwithstanding its undoubted sonic qualities (!). The tempo for the adagio, in which the dying away of the musical action is of paramount importance, is rather brisk at 22:45...

Interesting take. Yet the opening movement of the Moonlight doesn't need to be slow to be sublime, and Bruckner doesn't need to be slow to be majestic, at least IMO. I have been very impressed by Fishers Mahler so far and (like everyone else) am looking forward to what he does with the 9th, esp. the "brisk" final movement.

Post by fausto K April 27, 2015 (12 of 36)
james_joyce said:

Interesting take. Yet the opening movement of the Moonlight doesn't need to be slow to be sublime, and Bruckner doesn't need to be slow to be majestic, at least IMO. I have been very impressed by Fishers Mahler so far and (like everyone else) am looking forward to what he does with the 9th, esp. the "brisk" final movement.

well, as said, the definitive verdict will be handed down after listening, of course. But, in the case of Mahler 9, timings are crucial. The title of the final movement adds the marking: "sehr langsam und noch zurückhaltend". That means a few notches slower than just slow! Objectively, Fischer doesn't seem to be abiding by that marking, when the majority (!) of conductors (at least the ones I mentioned) take much more time (notice that Bernstein corrected his interpretation: 26.11 instead of the earlier 22.59). The infamously fast recording of Bruno Walter, or the Boulez, should not be taken as benchmarks, and late Haitink, who's normally rather sluggish, seems non-standard in this case too. Of course, you can perform any piece of music in any way you like, and undoubtedly Fischer will find admirers, as he did with the Bruckner 7, whose adagio he managed to rush through.
Now some might find Chailly's 28.24, Zinman's 28.46, or Abbado's 28:11, let alone the rather extreme Oue's 30.27, portentously slow, but I think they are much closer to the mark than Fischer.
The Fischer recording might have dozens of other qualities (and I'm pretty sure it has), but the fact that he takes the adagio at such a rapid pace alone disqualifies, for me at least, the recording as potentially becoming a reference for M9 on DSD recorded SACD, which I was hoping for, given his excellent other Mahlers. This doesn't mean that I won't enjoy it, if only as an unusual interpretation.

Post by fausto K May 11, 2015 (13 of 36)

Post by Johannes May 11, 2015 (14 of 36)
fausto K said:

video with Ivan Fischer:
http://www.mdt.co.uk/blog/latest-news/fischer-mahler-9-budapest-festival-orchestra/

Many thanks for the link. Interesting.

Post by pgmdir May 11, 2015 (15 of 36)

Post by tailspn May 13, 2015 (16 of 36)

Post by Simon V. May 20, 2015 (17 of 36)
channel said:

We are recording no 7 in September. no. 3 next spring.
No plans for any further Mahler......

So that will be all the symphonies apart from the Eighth (and the Tenth)? It seems a shame to stop one short.

Post by Ubertrout May 20, 2015 (18 of 36)
Simon V. said:

So that will be all the symphonies apart from the Eighth (and the Tenth)? It seems a shame to stop one short.

Seconded. Apparently he's said that he has no special feeling for the 8th, though.

Post by diw May 20, 2015 (19 of 36)
Simon V. said:

So that will be all the symphonies apart from the Eighth (and the Tenth)? It seems a shame to stop one short.

I am not so excited for another 8th, but the 10th Cooke performing edition would be wonderful.

Post by Simon V. May 20, 2015 (20 of 36)
It's not my favourite, either, though I enjoy it more once I've made it through the first part.

By the way, I came across this interesting piece by Daniel Barenboim on dis/liking Mahler: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/aug/31/arts.highereducation

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