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Mahler 2

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 Rog Wilko 05 Sep 2022

I wouldn’t have much difficulty choosing if I could listen to only one piece of music for the rest of my days. It would be Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. While not having a religious bone in my body I find this the most moving music I’ve ever heard. I listened and watched on BBC iplayer this evening to the recent Proms performance by the LSO under Simon Rattle and it was just out of this world. In a short interview shown before the music the conductor described the piece as ‘wild’, which is exactly as I think of it. There are sections of the piece where you feel that it cannot possibly hang together, and that any moment it will all crash in a big heap. 
The two vocal soloists, Louise Alder and Sarah Connolly also deserve a mention. Both wonderful voices who in this piece make grown men weep.

If this is your thing, or if you’ve heard of Mahler but never listened, don’t miss it.

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 rlrs 05 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

There's that bit that's really loud too!

OP Rog Wilko 05 Sep 2022
In reply to rlrs:

Just looked at your profile. You deserve a prize for moderating crags! Your list includes almost any crag I’ve been to in Swiss and French Alps. Well done.

 Welsh Kate 05 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

I watched / listened to this last weekend when the iPlayer recording first went up. I love Mahler, and have always found Mahler 2 soul-cleansing, and the LSO / Rattle performance did that very effectively, it was an all-in performance with such powerful choral contributions. It was particularly special and emotional for me because my youngest sister is principal cello of the LSO and I struggle not to cry when I see / hear her perform whether it's live or on tv. I was wowed out by the end!

 mountainbagger 05 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

I'll give Mahler another go on the basis of your post...always liked his music but never quite loved it as much as other romantics so he slipped my mind a little. I have 4, 5 & 6 on my shelf but not 2.

 petemeads 06 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

Saw most of the Rattle prom on tv, very impressive. Went to De Montfort Hall in 2003 to see Gilbert Kaplan, the amateur conductor with a Mahler 2 fixation, conduct the Philharmonia orchestra using his ultimate score based on the Mahler original with dozens of later edits based on Mahler's own rehearsal/performance experiences - he was wealthy enough to afford the original score and collect various letters to friends and promoters. Amazing, and my mother thought it was pretty good as well...

OP Rog Wilko 06 Sep 2022
In reply to Welsh Kate:

That’s a lovely post. Did your sis get much attention from the TV cameramen? 

 Anotherclimber 06 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

As you would expect from Rattle, a performance polished to perfection. But that, for me, was why it didn't thrill in the same way some other versions have. It just wasn't robust enough to punch me in the emotional guts. That said, perhaps if I'd been in the hall......?

OP Rog Wilko 06 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

> That’s a lovely post. Did your sis get much attention from the TV cameramen? 

Just wondering if my meaning might be misunderstood. Just thought I might be able to see her on TV.

 J72 06 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

Have to agree - all of Mahler. It particularly the 2nd…. incredible music.

he was a keen hillwalker too (though don’t think he was much of a climber) 

 pneame 06 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

Gosh. I don't think I've heard Mahler's 2nd before. Amazing. Thanks for heads up. 

OP Rog Wilko 06 Sep 2022
In reply to pneame:

> Gosh. I don't think I've heard Mahler's 2nd before. Amazing. Thanks for heads up. 

You’ve made my day! Now try to attend a live performance - it can be overwhelming, even though it’s unlikely to be as good as Rattle and the LSO.

1
 kevin stephens 06 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

I'm a fan of Mahler's music and recently replaced my copy of his second symphony with the Simon Rattle Berlin Philharmonic recording.

I also really enjoy some of his song cycles like Songs of a Wayfarer (tacked onto the end of my recording of 4th symphony), a nice contrast to the powerful and complex symphonies

 J72 06 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

Definitely overwhelming - I was at a performance by the LA Phil conducted by Dudamel - words can’t quite explain the power and energy of that and the finale was 5 minutes of hair raising stuff. 

 Welsh Kate 06 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

Got a few good close-ups thanks. I am of course inordinately proud of her, and have always been in awe of her innate musical ability, especially because I'm the unmusical one in the family, the only one of 5 who can't read music!

 Sean Kelly 06 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

"Wouldn't you die without Mahler"...immortal lines from Educating Rita.

I have Mahler 1, 4 & 5.

But this is heavenly...

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=the+Ruhevoll%2C+mathler&iax=videos...

In reply to Rog Wilko:

Chatting to some of my colleagues who were in the orchestra for the concert, I think the feeling of excitement was unusually high about the performance, which (from experience) becomes increasingly hard to muster after time on the job!

Great show. 
 

Further listening:

Mahler 7- LSO, Michael Tilson Thomas

Mahler 3- Vienna Philharmonic, Claudio Abbado

Mahler 6- Pierre Boulez, Vienna Philharmonic 

(Coming from an avid Mahlerian trombonist)

 freeflyer 07 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

Thanks very much for posting this, reminded me to go see more live concerts now we have our lives (mostly) back.

Conducted from memory - impressive, and with someone as good as Rattle, they're actually paying attention. Mind you, the BBC TV production is a work in itself; the mind boggles when I think of some director managing the different cameras and focus on the right player at the exact right moment!

I love the musical theatre and the closeups - a rather different experience from a live performance. You get to see how the individual players approach their music, and some moments of comedy - for example the brass player wearing his mute as a lunch box

1
OP Rog Wilko 07 Sep 2022
In reply to freeflyer:

Rattle did say he’d conducted the piece over a hundred times. I agree that it is very impressive for we ordinary mortals, but for musicians of that brilliance I suspect it is not as difficult as we imagine. I remember hearing it said that by the age of 10 (or something like that) Daniel Barenboim could play all 32 of Beethoven’s  piano sonatas from memory. To me that’s even more amazing.

 Pero 09 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

I could never get on with Mahler. Overlong and overindulgent. An hour and a half for a symphony!

Post edited at 21:04
1
OP Rog Wilko 10 Sep 2022
In reply to Pero:

> Overlong and overindulgent.

Nothing wrong with that. I imagine you must be a Bach fan?

 CarlMarx 21 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

I love this composer and all of his music. Regretfully in the UK he is not that commercialized and not in the mass mind culture. 

 kevin stephens 21 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

I’ve enjoyed a relaxing afternoon listening to Das Lied von der Erde, great recording by Klemperer

 Pedro50 21 Sep 2022
In reply to Rog Wilko:

On your recommendation I listened to it. Some loud bits, some soft bits, some fast bits and some slow bits. Sadly I won't be listening again but thanks anyway. 

 kevin stephens 21 Sep 2022
In reply to Pedro50:

Mahler 2 is pretty full on. For those seeking a more progressive intro to Mahler I’d suggest listening to  1st, 4th and 5th symphonies first, in that order 

 tjhare1 22 Sep 2022
In reply to kevin stephens:

Agreed, absolutely brilliant, but quite full on. Agreed RE the others, though I'd have perhaps said 4-5-1. As for Das Liede von der Erde...

It's funny isn't it? In my late teens and early 20s I used to love listening to the fairly "heavy" end of the Mahler/Bruckner/Wagner/etc spectrum, but I've since mellowed (appreciate I'm sounding like a codger... I'm not yet 30). Before, I'd rarely be heard listening to anything classical in nature, but today I do find myself more frequently reaching that way. Indeed, even found myself enjoying Haydn's "seasons" oratorio this morning.

I've also been enjoying an introduction to organ symphonies over the last little while, inspired by seeing Guilmant's performed in Ripon cathedral a little while back. Bit of a thread hijack, but do others have any recommendations?

 kevin stephens 22 Sep 2022
In reply to tjhare1:

> I've also been enjoying an introduction to organ symphonies over the last little while, inspired by seeing Guilmant's performed in Ripon cathedral a little while back. Bit of a thread hijack, but do others have any recommendations?

Get a decent sub woofer? Although my stand mounted speakers have good low end for their size , I think I’d need a sub to truly enjoy organ music

In reply to Rog Wilko:

I struggled earnestly and keenly for a long time in my 20s, listening to all his symphonies many times, but without much lasting success, I'll have to say. The Song of the Earth, though, was a different matter, very special ... though I'm not sure quite where I'd dare to put it on any list of great music by the all-time greats.

OP Rog Wilko 22 Sep 2022

 For years I couldn’t get a grip on Mahler symphonies apart from the first, which seemed like a normal symphony to my ignorant ear.  I can remember exactly where I was when the second gripped me. We were driving up the M6 and I casually turned on Radio 3 where someone was comparing different recordings of M2. We were between the Blackpool turn off and Forton services, just where  there’s a double kink and a small industrial estate on the left. I vowed there and then to buy a CD at the first opportunity. I’m always looking out for live performances within reach, especially at Bridgewater Hall.

OP Rog Wilko 22 Sep 2022
In reply to Pedro50:

> On your recommendation I listened to it. Some loud bits, some soft bits, some fast bits and some slow bits. Sadly I won't be listening again but thanks anyway. 

Sorry to hear that, but I’m impressed that you tried it.


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