Search - minigentlemen :: Mahler: Symphony No. 1 & 3

An unheralded gem!

Douglas Neslund (justus@flash.net) | Los Angeles, California | 09/24/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Of course, since I was involved in the recording of the Mahler Third with my California Boys' Choir, I am a bit prejudiced. But you can't find a better Third anywhere in the universe. Maestro Mehta was superb in directing the work, and Ms. Forrester was in top form, as were the ladies and gentlemen of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The work was recorded in UCLA's Royce Hall, with the entire auditorium acoustically treated for maximum clarity of sound. To be especially noted is the wonderful posthorn solo of Robert di Vall, as well as Sidney Harth's saucy violin solo. The women of the Los Angeles Master Chorale joined the California Boys' Choir in the fifth movement "Lustig in Tempo und keck im Ausdruck."You get two Mahler Symphonies for the price of one in this CD - a total of almost 149 minutes of lush, Romantic music so descriptive of life in the Alps, beautifully recorded, and produced by master producer Ray Minshull."

The best available Mahler 3rd on CDs

Tom Roberts | 03/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The L.A. Philharmonic/Mehta Mahler 3rd is the finest interpretation of this powerful and sweeping work available on CDs and yes, it is in a way "unheralded". I heard a studio tape of the live L.A.PO performance on NPR some 20 or so years ago and became so enthralled I dashed home from my university office and taped it, missing the first 15 minutes or so of the first movement. At the end of the symphony, the entire audience leapt to their feet in roaring approval of this extraordinary (and somewhat quirky) interpretation by Mehta. I have dubbed the first 15 minutes of this CD onto my original tape, and I can die happy knowing that I have this extraordinary gem in my collection. The recorded performance on this CD is more polished but lacks some of the intensity and fire of the live performance, which I have been unable to find anywhere on the internet. So you'll have to make do with the CD. The interpretation of the 1st with the Israel PO is somehat less distintive and passionate."

An excellent Mahler Third, good Mahler First

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 10/17/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The star of this very well filled Double Decca is Mehta's Mahler Third from 1978, his last year as music director in Los Angeles. In his whole career he only matched this reading with a Mahler Second from Vienna,, also on Decca and alos in wonderful sound.



The coupling is a Mahler First from 1974, which is noticeably less well recorded and played. Mehta gives the First a glib run-through, adopting brisk tempos for the long first movement and nowhere digging in for insight or lingering for expression. Still, it's a lively reading, better than one that dawdles.



The Third is head and shoulders above this--i'ts a really committed performance, rare from this conductor, and the orchestra plays like a first-rate ensemble, which it really wasn't compared to Boston, New York, Chicago, etc. You won't hear subtleties or mystery--Mehta is too straight ahead for that--but it's refreshing to hear a Mahler symphony played simply for drama and natural songfulness. Mehta, when young at least, could get extremely polished playing from the LAPO, and they had been together since 1962. He was the classical music superstar of L.A. (reportedly he was addressed in Beverly Hills as "Zubie Baby").



Even by contemporary standards Mehta's reading is involving and dramatic, although it is surpassed by Bernstein, Salonen, and Abbado on several counts. The recorded sound is so gorgeous that one soon forgets comparisons. Decca made some demonstration quality recordings with Mehta and the LAPO, and this Mahler Third is one. Maureen Forrester, miked very close, is eloquent in her solo to a Nietzsche text, and the women's and children's choirs are very clear and in tune--not that common with this piece.



All in all I would give the Third five stars and the First a marginal four."