WETA FM 90.9 Blog

Symphony No.1, Kubelik / BRSO (Audite)

Symphony No.2, Fischer / BFO (Channel )

Symphony No.3, Abbado / BPh (DG)

Symphony No.4, Haitink/ RCO (RCO Live )

Symphony No.5, Boulez / WPh (DG)

Symphony No.6, Fischer / BFO (Channel )

Symphony No.7, Abbado / BPh (DG)

Symphony No.8, Abbado / BPh (DG)

Das Lied von der Erde, Bernstein/ WPh (Decca)

Symphony No.9, von Karajan / BPh (DG)

Symphony No.10, Noseda / BBC Ph (Chandos)

Today begins the “International” of the three Gustav Mahler Symphony Cycles that Classical WETA plays as part of Mahler Month. Made up of some of my absolute favorite recordings—to the extend they were in print or available. It is, a Leonard Bernstein appearance in Das Lied von der Erde apart, a Western- and Central European cycle… although that is not to take away from the Aisan and Russian contributions to the Mahler discography, which I will touch upon in the accompanying articles published here, this month.
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Today, Monday, November 9^th, at 8pm we will hear one of the finest new Mahler recordings made in the last few years: Symphony No.4 under Bernard Haitink with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and soprano Christine Schäfer on RCO Live (SACD LOGO). Apart from a very different live performance I have recently heard with Daniele Gatti, this is the finest Fourth to have come my way, live or in concert.
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Iván Fischer’s first Mahler recording with the Budapest Festival Orchestra (Channel Classics) was that of Symphony No.6, and it immediately set the tone for the excellence of the other releases to come. Even though Fischer’s conception isn’t at all that of my ‘ideal’ Sixth (fire & brimstone, for me, please!), the performance, conception, and especially the rhythmic feeling is so extraordinary, that it immediately became one of my favorite versions. It will be performed on Tuesday, November 10^th.
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I long didn’t get Das Lied von der Erde, and didn’t think of it as one of the symphonies. That changed when a musician friend played Das Lied for me, one late, vinous night in Baltimore and made me guess who was performing. I bumbled, guessing-wise, but as I listened my ears opened and I was eventually hooked. The performance turned out to be Leonard Bernstein’s 1966 recording with the Vienna Philharmonic and James King and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as his singers (Decca). Lied-time is Wednesday, November 11^th.
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Symphony No.8, with two grand choral movements, is the odd symphony out, even among Mahler’s already unconventional symphonies; a strange beast which some Mahler-credentialed conductors (Fischer and Haitink, for example) refuse to conduct, or do so reluctantly. Because Seiji Ozawa’s Boston performance wasn’t available, Claudio Abbado (Berlin Philharmonic, DG) will fill the international cycle’s gap with his performance that manages chamber-like textures, despite the grandiosity of it all. It will be aired on November 12^th.
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Friday, November 13^th, it is time for Symphony No.2 again, and again with the fine, sensitive combination of Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, while Saturday, November 14^th will feature Symphonies Nos.1, 9, and 7—with Rafael Kubelik (BRSO, Audite), Herbert von Karajan, and Claudio Abbado, respectively (both Berlin Philharmonic, DG).
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The international cycle will be concluded on Sunday, November 15^th, with performances of Symphony No.5 under Pierre Boulez (Vienna Philharmonic, DG), No.3 under Claudio Abbado (BPh, DG), and No.10 under Gianandrea Noseda (BBC Philharmonic, Chandos).

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