Mahler: Symphony No. 3 / Litton, Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Mahler's longest and most kaleidoscopic symphony has been getting more attention in recent years both on concert schedules and on disc--from the dull, uninspired account by López-Cobos to Esa-Pekka Salonen's brilliant interpretation. It's a tall order to pull off, whether in the tremendously vivid details of Mahler's score or the overall pantheistic vision that holds its colossal structure together. Andrew Litton has so far proved himself a solid Mahler conductor, with a respectable Second Symphony in his quiver, the previous installment of a continuing cycle. But this live Third puts him in the top rank. Litton shows a fantastic ear for those details, which actually seem to pullulate in the first movement. His approach is clear-headed, with a vertical sense of musical events that is riveting. You may not be as tempted to air conduct as in Bernstein's magnificent vision or in another gold standard, the Jascha Horenstein account--there's less of the cosmological panic and blissful revelation than what you'll find with Lenny, to be sure--but Litton's stewardship clearly signals a general shift away from the indulgences of more subjective Mahler interpretations from decades past. And the clarity that results is revealing, whether in the shimmering wonders of the posthorn music or the lovingly unfolded final paean. Delos's "Virtual Reality Recording" sound is superbly realistic, and the Dallas Symphony's excellent playing makes you wonder how the myth of the "big five" American orchestras continues. At the two-for-one price, you can't go wrong. --Thomas May

Tracks:

Mahler

Customer Reviews:

Great Music, Great Recording ... VERY Bad Packaging.......2002-02-20

Be very careful when ordering this SACD of Andrew Litton and DSO's recording of Mahler's Symphony #2, Resurrection ... very careful. No the actual DSD recording is top rate from Delos, but it is with the packaging that I have a major qualm. On the Delos Web site, this product is clearly listed as a two-disc package that, in the SACD format...It's a great bargain here on Amazon.com...the price of a one-disc set. But therein lies the rub. When the package arrived and I opened the jewel box, out fell Disc 1 which had just been placed atop Disc 2 -- there was only a holder for one disc!!! Everything I've read and heard about care and handling of CDs over the last 20 years is NEVER, EVER stack one disc atop another. Fortunately, as I write this, I'm listening to Disc1 and there appears to be no damage. Again, the problem is NOT with the music -- it's wonderful, but Delos made a mistake in the packaging... Because of that, there's a danger that the consumer...

Mahler: Symphony No. 3 / Litton, Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Average customer rating:

Great Orchestral Playing and Sound is Awesome
There are no better recordings than this one
A CD To Treasure
Disappointed
Mahler's great pantheistic vision

Mahler: Symphony No. 3 / Litton, Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Manufacturer: Delos Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Mahler: Symphony No. 2, C Minor "Resurrection" / Litton, Murphy, Lang
Mahler: Symphony No. 4

ASIN: B00004RDW3
Release Date: 2000-02-29

Tracks:

Symphony No. 3: Kraftig. Entschieden
Symphony No. 3: Langsam. Schwer
Symphony No. 3: Tempo I
Symphony No. 3: a tempo
Symphony No. 3: Zeit lassen
Symphony No. 3: Immer dasselbe Tempo (Marsch)
Symphony No. 3: (Allegro moderato)
Symphony No. 3: Tempo I
Symphony No. 3: Tempo di Menuetto. Sehr massig
Symphony No. 3: a tempo
Symphony No. 3: Ganz plotzlich gemachlich. Tempo di Menuetto
Symphony No. 3: Comodo. Scherzando. Ohne Hast
Symphony No. 3: Wieder sher gamachlich, wie zu Anfang
Symphony No. 3: Sehr gemachlich
Symphony No. 3: Tempo I
Symphony No. 3: Wieder sher gemachlich, beinahe langsam
Symphony No. 3: Sehr langsam. Misterioso. Durchaus ppp
Symphony No. 3: Piu mosso subito
Symphony No. 3: Lustig im Tempo und keck im Ausdruck
Symphony No. 3: Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden
Symphony No. 3: Nicht mehr so breit
Symphony No. 3: Tempo I. Ruhevoll
Symphony No. 3: A Tempo (Etwas bewegter)
Symphony No. 3: Tempo I
Symphony No. 3: Langsam. Tempo I

Amazon.com

Mahler's longest and most kaleidoscopic symphony has been getting more attention in recent years both on concert schedules and on disc--from the dull, uninspired account by López-Cobos to Esa-Pekka Salonen's brilliant interpretation. It's a tall order to pull off, whether in the tremendously vivid details of Mahler's score or the overall pantheistic vision that holds its colossal structure together. Andrew Litton has so far proved himself a solid Mahler conductor, with a respectable Second Symphony in his quiver, the previous installment of a continuing cycle. But this live Third puts him in the top rank. Litton shows a fantastic ear for those details, which actually seem to pullulate in the first movement. His approach is clear-headed, with a vertical sense of musical events that is riveting. You may not be as tempted to air conduct as in Bernstein's magnificent vision or in another gold standard, the Jascha Horenstein account--there's less of the cosmological panic and blissful revelation than what you'll find with Lenny, to be sure--but Litton's stewardship clearly signals a general shift away from the indulgences of more subjective Mahler interpretations from decades past. And the clarity that results is revealing, whether in the shimmering wonders of the posthorn music or the lovingly unfolded final paean. Delos's "Virtual Reality Recording" sound is superbly realistic, and the Dallas Symphony's excellent playing makes you wonder how the myth of the "big five" American orchestras continues. At the two-for-one price, you can't go wrong. --Thomas May

Customer Reviews:

Great Orchestral Playing and Sound is Awesome.......2005-03-02

I own 3 recordings of this symphony, this one, Boulez/VPO and Chailly/RCO. I can say that the level of orchestral playing by the Dallas Symphony equals if not exceeds the VPO and RCO. The Dallas brass sounds absolutely fabulous in the climax of the first movement. As a whole I enjoy the Boulez recording the most simply because he brings a Bach-like clarity to the dense orchestral scoring of this symphony. But Litton controls the ups and downs of this meandering work so well that it doesn't seem like it is over 90 minutes long. The recording is fabulous. The dynamic range is extremely wide and on good equipment this is a blast to listen to.

There are no better recordings than this one.......2004-03-10

Even if this CD does have bad sound quality, the orchestra does bring out the ultimacy that other conductors seem to lack. The audience here expected the most exciting Mahler Symphony no. 3 performance from everybody who was involved and they got it. I think this recording is even more exciting than Pierre Boulez, Leonard Bernstein, Lorin Maazel, or Maurice Abravanel. Leonard Bernstein's Mahler recording is not what I thought it would be, Abravanel is totally weak, Lorin Maazel is way too slow, Michael Tilson Thomas is too not-Mahler-like, and Pierre Boulez is self-involved but this recording sounds the most similar to the way Mahler himself might've conducted it. A highly reccommended recording.

A CD To Treasure.......2002-08-29

I can't put properly into words how much I was impressed, amazed, and moved by this performance. I must now track down Barry Guerrero's other reviews on the Classics Today Website ...because of all the items I have seen reviewed on that site that have received 10/10 ratings (that I also own), this one truly deserves it.

The performance quality was quite a surprise. I had no idea that Dallas had this caliber of musicians. Based on this recording, I would rank this orchestra as one of the best in the world. Wow!

If I were do submit a benchmark of how an orchestra should be recorded for 16-bit CD playback in the home, this one would be among the few disks I own that I would provide (along with a couple from Reference Recordings). The balance is just wonderful. The sound stage is amazingly clear and gives a strong impression of being present for a live performance. One would have to turn to the best Hi-Rez (DVD-Audio, SACD) recordings to do any better in my estimation.

Reactions to interpretations are highly personal and subjective, but for my money, this recording builds on all the things I like about the Horenstein, but, for lack of better words, goes even more deeply into the music. I find this interpretation almost across the board wonderful.

This is a CD I will long treasure.

Disappointed.......2002-02-01

I can't claim to be a Mahler expert, but I have become very exthusiastic about Mahler over the past year. My previous experience with Mahler's 3rd was with a borrowed Solti/CSO recording, which I thought was very good. When I shopped around to buy my first recording of the 3rd, I was attracted to the positive reviews of this disc and the audiophile reputation Delos enjoys. I figured a live Delos recording should be a slam-dunk. When I played it for the first time, I was very disappointed in both the sound quality and the performance. The sound was muddy and veiled in so many places, the imaging not as crisp as I would have expected, and the performance was not as energetic and "confident" as I has heard on the Solti disc. Alas, I have found myself disappointed with 2 other recordings of the Dallas Symphony orchestra with Litton for the same reasons (Tchaikovsky's 1812 and Shostakovich No. 10). They all left me wanting and failed to meet my expectations - perhaps they were too high? I don't think I buy any more Dallas/Litton recordings. There are better choices out there...

Mahler's great pantheistic vision.......2001-06-17

This great symphony was written near the end of the 19th Century at a time when new age ideas were in the air. It is an essentially pantheistic work, in which the natural world has been cast into musical self-expression. The best time to listen to this music is when one has had contact with nature in some way, but preferably not in winter. This is, to my mind, spring or summer music. This is great music to listen to on a long trip by car.

One can sense the enthusiasm that Litton and the DSO have brought to this work; everyone is fully awake and primed to deliver their best performance, every musical phrase is expertly delivered. It's true, the front cover art of this album is downright ugly. I also don't care for that flimsy plastic insert that holds the two disks in place. But these are trivial complaints. The music speaks for itself. As is the case on Litton's other Mahler (The Second) there is generous track indexing so you can skip to subsections within the longer movements. You will not find a better contemporary version of this symphony with such superior sound quality anywhere.

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

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