Mahler: Symphony No. 9 / Zander, Philharmonia Orchestra

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Mahler's Ninth is the epitome of his symphonic writing. It is in four movements: a 30-minute, discursive but highly polyphonic treatment of several extended melodies and striking rhythmic motives; a 15-minute dance-like movement with three distinct themes in different tempos; a riotous, 13-minute scherzo that pits energetic motives against each other fugally; and a 27-minute adagio with a gorgeous opening that returns several times, each more powerfully scored than the last, only to dissolve devastatingly at the end. Zander, long a cult figure on Boston's music scene, leads the fine English orchestra in a "live" performance that investigates the score's characteristics with particular attention to Mahler's expressive markings and dynamic indications. In the first three movements, these are problematic, and Zander's attentions prove fascinating. The finale demands less in the way of detail, but more in the way of visionary expressiveness. Here, Zander is less convincing. Excellent sound. --Paul Turok

Mahler: Symphony No. 9 / Zander, Philharmonia Orchestra, Music, Gustav Mahler, Benjamin Zander, Philharmonia Orchestra, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Orchestral & Symphonic, Romantic Symphony, Symphonic

Average customer rating:

the commentary disc is incredible

Gigantic achievement ...

Too much exegesis. Where's the passion?

Zander's finest Mahler

A true contender

Mahler: Symphony No. 9 / Zander, Philharmonia Orchestra
Gustav Mahler , Benjamin Zander , and Philharmonia Orchestra
Manufacturer: Telarc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Mahler | Mahler, Gustav | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Romantic | Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B00000I4E3
Release Date: 1999-02-23

Tracks:

Andante Comodo
II. Im Tempo Eines Gemachlichen Landlers. Etwas Tappisch Und Sehr Derb
III. Rondo-Burleske. Allegro Assai. Sehr Trotzig
IV. Molto Adagio

Tracks:

Sym No.9: First Mvmt - Zander commentary
Sym No.9: Second Mvmt - Zander commentary
Sym No.9: Third Mvmt - Zander commentary
Sym No.9: Fourth Mvmt - Zander commentary

Amazon.com

Mahler's Ninth is the epitome of his symphonic writing. It is in four movements: a 30-minute, discursive but highly polyphonic treatment of several extended melodies and striking rhythmic motives; a 15-minute dance-like movement with three distinct themes in different tempos; a riotous, 13-minute scherzo that pits energetic motives against each other fugally; and a 27-minute adagio with a gorgeous opening that returns several times, each more powerfully scored than the last, only to dissolve devastatingly at the end. Zander, long a cult figure on Boston's music scene, leads the fine English orchestra in a "live" performance that investigates the score's characteristics with particular attention to Mahler's expressive markings and dynamic indications. In the first three movements, these are problematic, and Zander's attentions prove fascinating. The finale demands less in the way of detail, but more in the way of visionary expressiveness. Here, Zander is less convincing. Excellent sound. --Paul Turok

Customer Reviews:

the commentary disc is incredible.......2007-01-26

So -- let's talk about the "extra" disc containing Zander's commentary on Mahler's 9th. This disc, with its intricate care and crafting (imagine how long it took the authors to splice it all together), is quite a gem. There's nothing like it in any of the other hundreds of classical CDs that I own. I've listened to Mahler's 9th symphony at least fifty times, but Zander's disc opened up new listening ideas for me. For someone else who is new to Mahler, this explanatory disc could mean the difference between enthusiastically entering the world of Mahler, versus merely dismissing Mahler as frustratingly difficult. The commentary disc even on its own is something very special, and I hope it shows lots and lots of people the pathway to one of the greatest composers of all time.

Gigantic achievement ..........2006-02-04

Just one remark about the quality of the recording as such, just to get that issue out of the way first: it could be 'better'. But on the other hand, really everything, from the piercing highs of the trumpets down to the deepest rumbling basses, all instruments and timbres can be made out clearly within a soundpicture that doesn't gloss over any of the pureness, starkness and often 'ugliness' of much of this music, the leanness of the recording making it sound maybe all the more poignant. And also: I have never heard such urgent and (especially the very last minutes of the final Adagio!) - rapt (rather than tragic) pianiss(issi)imos as with Mr. Benjamin Zander and the Philharmonia Orchestra here on this recording: truly spellbinding!
Anyway, the (not so great acoustics of the recording venue) have had of course no effect on the playing itself, which is simply revelatory (when compared with many other recordings). Maestro Benjamin Zander's genius causes the notes to sound with such a great sense of narrative and over-arching and dramatic insight, that the music really sings - cries, roars, laughs, whispers, ... - out to you with an intensity and directness it has rarely ever done before. (The 'lean' quality of the recording and the acoustics providing the advantage of forcing the listener to concentrate on all of the notes in all of their shattering and ground-shaking honesty - I believe that at least some part of the special quality of this recording is to be seen in this light.) Mr. Zander, together with the orchestra, manages to make the instruments speak with such intensity and with such eloquence as to utterly grip your attention from beginning to end. From what I gather (me being the lowliest and humblest of amateurs, not being able to read music), Mr. Zander, from virtually every bar, is wringing new insights and new details unheard of before. The playing is as searingly intense as can get, and I can only think of maybe Sir Simon Rattle's Vienna Philharmonic performance (on EMI) as coming close to Zander's complete involvement, but even then ... not quite I think. Mr. Zander's Mahler Ninth just sounds that little bit more 'pure Mahler' than Sir Simon Rattle's does (but which I love very much as well!)
This was my first acquaintance with Benjamin Zander and his unique way with Mahler. I initially bought this three-pairing of CD's because I was very curious about this conductor - of whom I had never heard before - telling about Mahler and his music. His narrative essay on (conducting) Mahler's Ninth Symphony was the first CD in the set I listened to, and I was hooked; and it perfectly set the stage for listening to his 'Mahler Nine'. But the true gem was of course the symphony itself. Zander's 'Mahler Nine' is now - along with his 'Mahler Five' - one of my favorite records. Really 'desert island discs'. I also like how the symphony has been split over two CD's in the way it has: Andante Comodo on disc 1, the rest on disc 2. The break that has been created is a technical necessity (the recording didn't fit on one disc, unfortunately), but it does sound logical having a little pause (now as long as one likes, when shifting CD's) between the long and deeply moving, half hour-experience of the Andante comodo. But after that, one can at least go on listening to part II, III, and IV without a pause, never having to break one's concentration ...
To conclude, the music-making sounds completely and utterly involved, utterly honest and utterly in touch with all of the complexities of these 'beautiful' but gut-wrenching notes, investing every single phrase and every single bar with the utmost of meaning, without ever losing a sense of the over-arching drama, completely gripping ones attention from first to last - not least the audience, of which one almost never hears one single sound ... They must have been truly spellbound ... holding their applause for over half a minute after the music has ended --- or has it really? --- (and the inclusion of which, on this CD, for me only heightens the sense of a marvellous occasion).
Utterly and unequivocally recommended!

Too much exegesis. Where's the passion?.......2005-10-17

In concert in Boston Zander seems to bring more fire and life to his Mahler than in these Telarc recordings from London. One review will practically do for all of them so far. Zander misses the wildness of Mhaler, his freedom and unleahsed emoiton, because there is so much attention to detail. Mahler doesn't live in the details. If you listen to the bonus CD that contains one of Zander's typically fine lectures, there is an astonishing amount of exegesis lavished on just the opening bars of the first movement.

It's too much mentality for the music to stand, and although Zander is veyr skilled at getting his musicians to stitch a filigree of detail that I guess is admirable on some level, there are half a dozen Mahler Ninths (Walter, Karajan, two Bernsteins, Barbirolli, Klemperer, the recent Abbado from Berlin) that take us into Mahler's world much more personally and intensely than this.

Zander's finest Mahler.......2004-05-28

This is one of the most spellbinding performances ever. The previous Mahler Ninths I own or heard; from Masur, Boulez, Bruno Walter, Barbirolli, Kubelik...they sound like "routine" Mahler Ninths. Only Leonard Bernstein's superb performances with Boston Symphony Orchestra and Vienna Philharmonic came close as my favorite Mahler Ninths. But Zander's Ninth is otherworldly, just like Horenstein's Mahler Eighth, another favorite recording of mine. Both went through the intricate details and demands of the Mahler himself and "conjure" what they interpret into sounds that went beyond music. It is how Mahler's vision of symphony that embraces the world should do, and very, very few works of Mahler today are capable of that. Routine Mahler performances are forgettable, extraordinary performances are to be treasured, and supernatural performances are unforgettable. Zander's Ninth belongs to the last category.

Maybe my praise went a bit too enthusiastic and akin to being a mindless fanboy, but Zander couldn't actually capture such essence in this recording later on. He has been too submissive into the details and intricate instructions of the composer while failed to find something beyond what is prescribed in the score, proved by recordings of his Sixth and latest Third symphonies.

The second and third movement suffers from the approach I mentioned above. Mind you, I have actually heard Zander conduct the Rondo-Burleske live and it spirals out of control like Bernstein/BPO and loved it, compared to this recording's Rondo-Burleske.

But for just the first and last movements and the lecture that I give this 3-CD set a full rating. No one captures the Andante Comodo as vividly as Zander does. His approach is close to Furtwangler's conducting that I admire the most, spontaneous organic musical approach rather than playing it safe by walking tightrope through the score. You can hear many different voices from individual instruments working like a chamber orchestra and violin ppp passages are stunning when the strings sound as if they're spectre in Barbican hall. Also, Zander focuses on three climaxes that gets louder after another (if not mistaken) and like Horenstein in Mahler Eighth, he accumulates the tension rather than forcing the musicians to do it.

The Adagio is a heart-welming farewell to the world that Mahler loved and also a hint to his everlasting yearning of his late daughter Anna. Again, he accumulates the tension for the biggest climax of the movement before gradually dies away in silence.

As for the lectures, they're fascinating and I am ever grateful to maestro Zander for his tips on conducting the first movement and it helps me to conduct at times. Some posters might question why he needs to yap like a religious evengelist and not let his music speak for itself. Simply because many listeners interpret the works differently. I suppose Mahler himself is a freak since he does "prescribe" his symphonies especially First and Third symphonies, although he retracted them later. Sometimes the listener is curious about the history of music and how it works. Pity Bernstein and Zander are one of the few conductors who educate their listeners today. Classical music should not be a pompous and elite field of interest. It is because of such attitude that today's classical music scene is in deterioration.

A true contender.......2004-01-02

Zander's version, no doubt in my mind, IS a good choice for this symphony. I like the rhythms he chooses, I like his accentuation (especially in the Laendler!). Actually, in all fairness, this is even a GREAT recording of the ninth. Warm, like Barbirolli's, and with Viennese control and conduct, like vK. For a live performance, to be a bit nit-picking, some the climaxes and excitement maybe missing, but hey, why bother with this? Finally, vK's '82 version (still my favorite though, and maybe Bernstein's) got a worthy rival that comes close. Enough said. Five stars for the first two movements. In the third, I think he could have been more allegro assai (very vivid, i.e. more "fire" and a bit faster). Still, good rhythm and a very lyrical and detailed approach. Four stars. The last movement is again, very lyrical and beautifully played by the Philharmonia. But here quite evidently, some "fire" or passion are really sacrificed. In the end, also that is matter of taste. Four stars.

So overall: What do we do? Four or five? Tough one. I stay with four. Five would have been fine with me, had the last movement been a bit more assertive. But after all, still a matter of taste.

Needless to say, do not miss this recording!

Music Review: