Mahler - Symphony 10 / Berliner Philharmoniker · Rattle

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Just as the Payne/Elgar Symphony No. 3 is not Edward Elgar's definitive statement, Mahler did not complete a Symphony No. 10. He did, however, leave "a work fully prepared in the sketch," the complete unorchestrated musical material. Had he lived, Mahler would almost certainly have shaped the material further. This means that the performance edition prepared by Deryck Cooke in the early 1960s is not a completion, it's an orchestration of the short score left at Mahler's death in 1911. It nevertheless sounds very "complete," both in itself and as a summation of the romantic-epic 19th century German musical tradition. Hereafter, the France of Debussy and Ravel would lead the musical world, and Stravinsky's 1913 Parisian premiere of The Rite of Spring would turn it upside-down.

Simon Rattle has recorded a fine version with the CBSO. In 1980, Rattle conducted the Symphony No. 10 in a highly acclaimed performance with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and this later version with the Berlin Philharmonic offers even greater expressive control and power. The tempos are slightly slower and, inevitably, the performances more musically eloquent. The excellent live sound omits all but the faintest background noise, and the grave beauty of the Finale becomes a deeply moving testament to a world long-since gone. --Gary S. Dalkin

Mahler - Symphony 10 / Berliner Philharmoniker · Rattle, Music, Gustav Mahler, Simon Rattle, Berliner Philharmoniker, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Orchestral & Symphonic, Romantic Symphony, Symphonic

Average customer rating:

once again, Rattle is undermined by less than great sound

Rawness, starkness... greatness.

4 stars for incompleteness of the Cooke version

Rattle gives the best-ever reading of the Cooke completion

A performance of Mahler's draft of the symphony prepared by others

Mahler - Symphony 10 / Berliner Philharmoniker · Rattle
Gustav Mahler , Simon Rattle , and Berliner Philharmoniker
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Mahler | Mahler, Gustav | ( M ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra | ( B ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B00004RITP
Release Date: 2000-06-06

Tracks:

Sym No.10: I. Adagio
Sym No.10: II. Scherzo
Sym No.10: III. Purgatorio (Allegretto Moderato)
Sym No.10: IV. Scherzo
Sym No.10: V. Finale

Amazon.com

Just as the Payne/Elgar Symphony No. 3 is not Edward Elgar's definitive statement, Mahler did not complete his Symphony No. 10. He did, however, complete the first movement in full score and the second in short score, while he left incomplete sketches for the remainder. Had he lived, Mahler would almost certainly have shaped the material further. This means that the performance edition prepared by Deryck Cooke in the early 1960s is not a completion, it's an orchestration of the short score left at Mahler's death in 1911. It nevertheless sounds very "complete," both in itself and as a summation of the romantic-epic 19th century German musical tradition. Hereafter, the France of Debussy and Ravel would lead the musical world, and Stravinsky's 1913 Parisian premiere of The Rite of Spring would turn it upside-down.

Customer Reviews:

once again, Rattle is undermined by less than great sound.......2006-12-27

Make no mistake, this is a very fine performance. But once again, a strong Simon Rattle effort receives too little support from his home label, EMI. This IS available on a DVD-A, and I've yet to hear that. But the plain, old CD of it is relatively constricted and mute sounding. As a performance, I find this to be a significant improvement over his earlier Bournmouth recording. Yes, Bournemouth has a stronger low brass section, and the winds generally play with more color to their sound. But the Cooke version of the Mahler 10th is very dependent on strings to carry much of the load. Needless to say, the Berlin strings deliver the goods in spades, as do the Philadelphia strings for Ormandy (my favorite!). Interpretively speaking, Rattle makes a couple of important changes here. Most notable, is that he ammends the solo bass drum strokes at the begining of the fifth movement to a plain forte, as opposed to the totally unmusical - and biographical wrong! - fortissmo shots heard (clear into the next county) on his Bournemouth one. But just as important, Rattle makes a smoother transition into the fifth movement; by way of taking the concluding section of the forth movement (second scherzo) slower than normal - everythig that happens after the final expressionistic outburst. If this makes things sound too smooth in your mind, rest assured that Rattle does, indeed, lean heavily on that final outburst in the fourth movement. I find that these changes make greater sense of the ongoing narrative. Rattle's first scherzo (second movement) is nice and fast - rhythmically incisive - and the short "Purgatorio" movement has its day as well (not so with Gielen, I'm afraid).

For the Cooke version, I'm still a big fan of the old Ormandy recording. But if you own a DVD-A player, it may well be worth investigating the Rattle on a DVD-A disc. If you wish to explore beyond Cooke, as an addendum, you couldn't do better than the outstanding Litton/Dallas S.O./Delos recording of the wild and wooly Clinton Carpenter version. Yes, Carpenter over-extends himself; stepping deep into the sound world of Alban Berg. But once you get used to it, his remains the most satisfying - in terms of the work's narrative - and idiomatic sounding "completion" of the lot. He simply captures more of the ebb and flow of Mahler's extreme emotions and mood shifts (this was a rough period for him, shall we say).

Rawness, starkness... greatness........2005-12-23

This Mahler 10 IMHO says it all, and more eloquently and more eminently than all others maybe. Whatever your reservations about a 'score unfinished', this recording, I believe, completely convinces one again and again of the greatness of this ('unfinished') music AS PERFORMED HERE.
The performance in my ears sounds more 'raw' and with more 'attack' than any other recording of this music, the result of Sir Simon Rattle's tendency to make the most of all the many contrasts and sudden tempo changes, and to make every instrumental sound stand out in the orchestral soundpicture as clearly as possible. Fire and ice. Although this could also be caused by the rather direct and clear, but somewhat thin recording as such. With this specific music, this 'thinness' of sound is in my idea not a big problem, or rather an advantage. (Thinness of sound IS a problem with Sir Simon Rattle's Mahler 8, though!). But I must hasten to say that the whole aural range - from soaring and piercing highs to rumbling lows - is captured in an astoundingly sharp and beautifully natural way.
Compared with other recordings of Mahler's Tenth Symphony (many of which are different 'versions', but I would like to stick with the 'performing version' by Deryck Cooke et al here for convenience sake), like Inbal or Chailly, I like this one the best. At least it is the most convincing performance - the conductor wresting each and every possible emotion from all of the notes - that I have ever heard. This must be the most 'highly charged' (emotionally as well as purely musical) performance - combined with some of the most disciplined playing - ever recorded. There are more 'beautiful' performances maybe (take for example Inbal), but those are generally a little(?) more laid back and relaxed. This is of course the result of different, equally legitimate visions of different conductors, suiting many tastes or moods ... if such could be possible in this very explicit music: a final shout of rage and ultimately desperation at the dying of the light. Anyhow, this Mahler 10 does have the most TERRIFYING A-flat minor (Mahler's 'tragic' key) chorale (just before the infamous nine-tone chord-outburst - beyond any 'key') I have ever experienced, and I find it most unsettling to listen to. Its horror is so devastating I must really brace myself emotionally every time.
If you are drawn to this music - which is probably irrevocable - you really should have this recording. (And while the sound of the standard stereo CD is just fine, I can say that the high-resolution stereo of the audio-DVD version of this recording is even clearer and generally better and absolutely captivating. Unfortunately I am not able to listen to this recording in its six-channel Surround Sound format, so I could not comment on that, but I can only expect it would offer a truly overwhelmingly emotional experience.) Actually this shattering Mahler 10 IMHO deserves no less than six *stars*.

4 stars for incompleteness of the Cooke version.......2005-10-30

I totally agree with Mr. Boulez in that Mahler Symphony No 10 could have been completed only by Schoenberg, who wrote a very Mahlerian tone poem "Pelleas und Melisande". (In my opinion, one can possibly include Shostakovich, considering his symphony no. 4.) Actuallly, Alma asked both composers to complete this symphony, but Schoenberg already started composing atonal works by the time Mahler composed his 9th symphony, and Shostakovich was under the Stalin Regime when he was asked to complete this symphony.

Even though I found lots of interesting moments (e.g. timpani at the beginning of the 5th movement, etc.), I felt kinda fundamental incompleteness throughout this symphony. Especially, one cannot expect, in Cooke's version, the great moment of finale Mahler had created in his other symphonies. (For an obvious example, compare with the finale of his 9th symphony.)

So my conclusion is that this recording is quite persuasive, but cannot convince that 10th should be placed along with the other stellar Mahler symphonies. (maybe this recording can persuade some critics that Cooke's version is worth performing, at best...) One can claim that it sounds "complete" depending on the definition of "completeness", but to me it didn't reach "greatness", except the first movement that Mahler himself completed.

It's regrettable (for me, personally) that Schoenberg didn't work on this symphony even during his unproductive periods when he usually orchestrated other composers' works.

And one reviewer below made a very bold statement. Debussy and Ravel influenced a lot on Messiaen and Boulez, who, along with some other composers, led the contemporary music after the war. One should be careful when making such statements as who's better than who. And all Mr. Dalkin claimed is that after Mahler's death the musical world was led by the two French composers.

Anyway, I can recommend this recording for those who want to hear Cooke's version, and I agree that Mahler's 10th Symphony is worth performing, but one shouldn't expect the greatness as in other Mahler's masterworks. If you do, you'll be possibly writing a review here, claiming the incompleteness of Cooke's version.

Rattle gives the best-ever reading of the Cooke completion.......2005-10-11

I can't support the view that the Mahler Tenth feels complete. What we have is one great movement that is fully completed, the opening Adagio, followed by an almost complete one (the third movement Purgatorio), and three problematic movements in bare sketches.

They are so problematic that Leonard Bernstein, Solti, Abbado, Kubelik, Karajan, and other prominent Malherians have declined to conduct any of the completions done by Deryck Cooke or his half dozen successors. Cooke did a wonderful job with what he had, but the mystery is why the Adagio is so obviously great while the remaining sektches aren't.

The Purgatorio movement doesn't give us a totally convincing picture. The finale is quite skeletal; Cooke had to work from a two-stave piano score. Either Mahelr was going to write in a mode much sparer than any he had ever used before, or his inspiration was flatging, which is entirely possible from a severely ill, depressed composer.

It's amazing than even these sketches can sound so good. Rattle gives a totally committed performance of the Tenth, probably the best on records. The Berlin Phil. plays with its customary virtuosity, even though EMI hasn't come up with the best sound; it's fairly thin, distant, and wiry in the upper registers of the violins. I am glad to have thids CD, but I don't think the Tenth is complete or a masterpiece, one movement aside.

A performance of Mahler's draft of the symphony prepared by others.......2005-10-03

Mining the notebooks of deceased composers for unpublished and nearly completed works has a long and venerable tradition. Brahms edited works by Franz Schubert and others completed works by Mozart including his famous "Requiem". Every now and again a new work is uncovered in some library and the world is hungry to hear any scrap of new music from these favorite composers. Doesn't this say something about the quantity and quality of new music? In their time, there was so much other music being written, and its expected life was so short, that no one cared a bit about "lost" compositions. There was simply too much music competing for the stage for it all to be heard.

Despite this disk being entitled Mahler's 10th Symphony, there is no such thing. Mahler's compositional process was such that he worked out a complete notebook of a symphony during his summers and worked out the final versions, often substantially revised, during his winters. However, during his last year, he spent a great deal of time preparing his ninth symphony rather than working on this piece. What we have here is the notebook draft of what would have become the 10th symphony had Mahler lived. It is a largely complete draft and was put into performable shape by others. Four names are provided on this label, but principle credit is given to Deryck Cooke.

So, what do we have here? It is a long elegiac piece that emphasizes strings. I am not convinced the winds would have been as suppressed as they are here, but we have what we have. The gestures and effects are all Mahlerian. If you heard this and were not told the composer, you would immediately know whose work it is. Or maybe, since you would not know the work, suppose it was someone imitating Mahler. There are some gorgeous moments, some incredibly poetic moments (the amazing ending to the first movement), and some wonderfully howling chords that are somewhat surprising.

If you don't know Mahler's music, start somewhere else. The first and second symphonies continue to be favorites and easily accessible. His music is clearly tonal, but highly chromatic (it slips from key to key easily and has many inflected chords). Some people refer to this music has late late Romantic, others see the budding of atonality. I personally hear this as 11:57 pm on the clock of Romanticism.

This recording is well done, poetically performed, and sensitively conducted by Simon Rattle. He is able to architect the whole work into a whole that makes sense and every moment is connected to all the others. Still, this is a work that is more for devotees of Mahler who want one more piece than for the general public. For them, there is a lot to hear before they need to spend time with performances of notebooks of uncompleted works, however beautiful individual moments might be.

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