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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,… More >>
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Early on in his extensive essay in the booklet, Zander quotes Mendelssohn’s saying of how music communicates much more precisely than words. To this I would add the remark “Talking about music is like dancing about patisserie” (or something like it). Mahler’s music is supremely articulate, clearly- (if unusually-)structured and well-orchestrated – there is never any doubt about what he is saying musically. And in this performance, everything is “there”, with no need of verbal explanation – you just have to listen, and listen hard! If the `meaning’ of the piece remains mysterious after repeated listenings, maybe it was meant to be mysterious: an experience that can never be put into words without being diminished or caricatured. The conductor himself writes “Mahler… wrestled with the idea of writing `programmes’ for his symphonies, (but) came to deplore programme notes – not only as a distraction but also as a disruption of the listener’s experience.” And what does Zander go and do but write several hundred words of programme notes in the booklet, and speak several hundred more on the extra disc, apparently with the purpose of “explaining” the symphony? Bad music (like Liszt’s orchestral pieces, or much Richard Strauss, or sub-Stockhausen “modern”) requires verbal, psychological or theatrical explanations to give us something more interesting to think about while listening. Great music does not. In fact it positively suffers from them, since they create expectations and limitations in the minds of the listeners which must be overcome before the music can be fully experienced. The only instructions you need before listening to Mahler 9 are `This piece is 90 minutes long and has 4 movements. Brace yourself.’So why does Zander want to load up our minds with all his speculations about Mahler’s psychology, biography, and the `meaning’ of the music, rather than leave the composer to speak for himself? It looks as if he can’t trust the listeners to make up their own minds, or like an attempt to propagate his own cod-philosophical “interpretation” of the piece as the gospel. It would truly be a shame if people were so incapable of spontaneous emotional reaction to music that they need a pre-digested summary of what they should be thinking and feeling at various different moments in the symphony – which is what all these explanations amount to. If you start listening with all sorts of preconceived ideas about what was going on in Mahler’s life, you are going to waste most of your time trying to fit what you hear into that framework. The symphony _tells you_ all the important facts about what was going on in Mahler’s life.I urge anyone who buys this set to listen to the symphony at least twice (and maybe someone else’s recording too) before reading or listening to a word from Zander – and even then, keep at the back of your mind “It ain’t necessarily so!”. What he says isn’t anywhere near the whole story – or even a tenth of the story. The paradox is that such a good conductor would have so little confidence in the power of music to communicate itself, as to resort to such an unnecessary substitute for musical understanding. My hypothesis is that Zander is an emotional control freak – he has made up his mind exactly how much of what emotion he is going to project at what point in the score, and uses his formidable technique to ensure that it happens exactly as he planned it, with almost frightening effectiveness.But there’s more to conducting than this: to be somewhat cliche’d, there’s the inspiration of the moment, when something new is allowed to happen, when the music and the performer react to each other in real time and the conductor has to throw his red-pencil marks down the drain and jump off into empty space because something much more exciting is happening. With Zander, the music feels like a stupendous inorganic process – like earthquakes, or planets colliding, or glaciers flowing down mountain valleys; rarely like a human voice.
Rating: 4 / 5
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.
Rating: 3 / 5
Zander provides an interesting interpretation of Mahler’s 9th symphony here. It is an interpretation that places Mahler in a romantic context and insists on the music being understood first in terms of affect. Mahler is a transitional figure and this is to be expected. If one does not play Mahler as either a modern or romantic figure (if one instead attempts to balance both elements equally), the result is usually convoluted. Zander also wanted to emphasize contrapuntal details and encourage clashes between simultaneous and varied affects/expression markings in the parts.How does he approach these problems? Affect is projected by encouraging a dynamism of tone and phrasing in the players, which adds abundant life to the motifs that Mahler has created. You really feel the abstract ‘meaning’ of these leitmotiv – like figures in the Zander performance. As is typical of ‘romantic’ Mahler interpretations (unfortunately), the warmness or boldness of tone is in conflict with contrapuntal clarity. The inner lines are often covered and the symphonic choirs are unbalanced in the tutti or near tutti sections by the brass. Furthermore, in my opinion the clashes between the varied expression markings are a little too great, because the tone often becomes harsh, especially in the brass. The tessitura of most sections is not uniform, and woodwinds screech in the upper register, brass are extremely diffuse in lower register, etc… all the normal tendencies of the choirs occur because they are encouraged. Is this bad? Well, objectively I can’t say, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as a more even tone through the performance. I think that the concept of increasing timbral differentiation between the choirs is good, but perhaps too much in this instance.Lastly, this is a live performance, and there are some intonation problems. I’m not sure if I can fault the ensemble for them in such a grueling work, but they are there. You can pick up a studio recording without this problem, and there is not much sacrifice of spontaneity. For this reason alone, I wouldn’t recommend this as one’s first recording of Mahler’s 9th symphony. The Boulez recording of this work with deutsche gramophone is good in terms of cleaning up the lines, but it places Mahler more directly in the light of modernity. If that’s where you want him, go with Boulez. Christoph von Dohnanyi provides a performance on decca that is tight and heavier than the Boulez on affect. I would recommend both before the live Zander. If you’re interested in a live recording, the second Karajan (also on deutsche grammaphone) recording of the 9th is a romantic interpretation that surpasses the Zander in my opinion. With the abundance of Mahler recordings there is no reason not to go with a totally tight performance.
Rating: 3 / 5
Although most audiophiles think of Telarc as a full-price label, their Mahler recordings are being sold at budget prices — at least if you measure by dollars per disk. This is a 3-CD set that can be purchased for about the price of one CD, putting it on a price par with the Arte Nova and Naxos labels. Given that many folks are doubtless aware that there are some really good recordings of the Mahler 9th available on a single disk (e.g., Boulez on DG and Barbirolli on EMI), and they may also know that arguably the very finest Mahler 9th recording available is a two-CD set (viz., López-Cobos/Cincinnati) on Telarc, three questions beg to be asked about this new recording: 1) Why three disks? 2) Why would Telarc release another Mahler 9th on the heels of their fantastic López-Cobos version? 3) Is there any reason to consider purchasing the Zander, especially for someone who already owns the López-Cobos?
The answer to the first question is that Telarc has included a bonus disk wherein Zander delivers a lecture about the Mahler 9th, which he illustrates with musical examples. Although some of the talk is quite cloying (particularly the part about the little girl), the bonus disk is indeed quite a nice bonus.
The answer to the second question is that Telarc now has a contract with Zander (they plan to record the Beethoven symphonies — they will really have to be something to displace the Zinman disks as a best buy recommendation, though!), Zander is an interesting conductor with something of a cult following, and they had this live recording of Mahler that was bound to attract attention. Why wouldn’t they release it?!
As for the third question, I think the answer is yes, both for those who might be coming to this work for the first time (the bonus disk!), but also for those who love Mahler and already have several good recordings (the bonus disk!); however, the latter group will more likely than not listen to the bonus disk much more than they listen to the disks of the 9th.
The López-Cobos and Boulez disks, as different as they are from each other in terms of both performance and recording, are both clearly superior to the new Zander both musically and sonically. Still, the Zander has its moments, the sound is not bad, the price is low, and yes, the bonus disk is truly a bonus.
Rating: 4 / 5
Mahler’s Ninth is arguably a Greatest Symphony Ever; Ultimate Symphony of Love, Life, and Death, and Everything.
I developed a kind of addiction to it. Sometimes I just need to listen to one if its movements. With its great length, it takes quite a few listening to fully embrace and appreciate this masterpiece. It’s like traveling a long road, or walking through a building seemingly designed by God himself; first time you don’t know what to expect, but after a few times you anticipate its beautiful and horrific turns and twists, in full awe and thrill. I’m not a religious kind, but in this Symphony I feel God talking to us. Like Ecclesiastes, it makes me accept the ultimate end.
There are many breath-taking moments in the symphony. Like around 19:00 of the finale, when you suddenly hear a choir, even though it’s just the orchestra. Or “drunk” in the landler. In the very end, listen to the three notes of the final call, summoning the soul to the beoynd.
In the first movement, you find how themes that sounded of untroubled happiness and motherly love in the exposition, after all cruel trials in the development, in the recapitulation have become sounding of sad wisdom and bitter questioning, so bitterly asking “why, oh why did that all have to happen”, and almost breaks down, going to aimless wandering, but finally comes to conclusion, resolving to a statement of love and acceptance.
Rating: 5 / 5