★★★★★
What might at first sight seem to be an enterprising selection of piano transcriptions of some of the key orchestral works of the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century turns out to be rather unsatisfying. Buy it from Buy the CDDownload as MP3Gustav Mahler, Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy, Arnold SchoenbergFirebird - 20th Century Transcriptions for Piano - Mahler, Stravinsky, Debussy & SchoenbergOdradek Records2014 ...
- www.theguardian.com
2014-06-13
★★★★★
Mahler's Symphonies have been recorded by so many conductors - including Lorin Maazel with the Vienna Philharmonic - that it is hard to imagine what new insights further versions might offer. This release of live recordings from Maazel's 2011 Mahler cycle in the Royal Festival Hall finds the Philharmonia, and particularly the brass, in fine form and the recorded sound is bright and spacious, while Maazel sometimes uncovers details of part-writing and orchestration that usually go unnoticed even...
- www.classical-music.com
2014-05-20
★★★★★
Stenz's grip on the symphonic structure is equally assured; he opts for Mahler's second thoughts about the order of the inner two movements, placing the Andante before the Scherzo. And however much he tightens the dramatic screw, especially in the closing pages of the finale, his performance never topples over into hysteria. It is impressively plotted and controlled...
- www.theguardian.com
2014-05-16
★★★★★
Benjamin Zander has received high praise for his Mahler symphony performances and recordings over the years. He was apparently working his way through a Mahler cycle for Telarc Records when that label had a restructuring that altered plans. Zander had recorded all the symphonies but for Nos. 2, 7 and 8. Thus, it appears he will complete the project on Linn Records. That is good news, because Zander is a fine Mahler conductor, as this recording amply demonstrates...
- www.classical.net
2014-05-10
★★★★★
Christophe Prégardien Buy it from Buy the CDGustav Mahler and Wolfgang RihmMahler/ Rihm: Orchestral Songs [Steven Sloane, Christoph Prégardien] [CPO: 777675-2]Steven Sloanecpo2013 Christoph Prégardien's selection of Des Knaben Wunderhorn songs, 10 of the 20-odd settings of the collection of folk poetry that Mahler made in the 1880s and 90s, contrast perfectly with Wolfgang Rihm's Rilke cycle,...
- www.theguardian.com
2014-04-04
★★★★★
Astoundingly, this is Lorin Maazel's third complete take on Mahler, and it has to be said right away that the conductor has shown little affinity for the composer until now. His Vienna cycle on Sony was let down by the both lackluster conducting and playing, and his second cycle got literally no attention at all. At present, it's only available as Amazon MP3 files, which is an ominous sign...
- www.classical.net
2014-03-12
★★★★★
Newly issued by United Classics, this release demands your attention...or it would, were the performance less frequently thrown around. I've heard great things about this performance, and it's been issued on Music & Arts, Archipel 108, and in the lavish New York Philharmonic Mahler box. Assuming you still don't have it, but still want it (I found myself in this camp), here it is again...
- www.classical.net
2014-03-12
★★★★★
Mariss Jansons's line up of Wagnerian soloists for this live Concertgebouw Mahler spectacular is possibly the most impressive since Georg Solti's classic 1971 recording. It includes the most opulent Isolde of the day, Christine Brewer - sounding a little better on the bonus DVD than on the CD - to crown the 'Veni creator spiritus', and the most reliable Tristan, Robert Dean Smith...
- www.classical-music.com
2013-11-12
★★★★★
Everything about the dewy dawn of this Mahler One is perfect: gurgling clarinets, well articulated and perfectly placed distant trumpet fanfares, spirited false cuckoo-calls (Mahler using the Symphony's all-powerful interval of a fourth instead of that usurping bird's usual third). But as the hero - signified by allusions to Mahler's first song-cycle Songs of a Wayfarer - steps into the sunshine, the effect of the airless, in-your-face strings is rather oppressive...
- www.classical-music.com
2013-08-01
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