Search - Gustav Mahler, Bruno Walter, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra :: Walter Conducts Mahler

This is a 'must-have' for all admirers of Mahler!

tolkie | Munich, Germany | 11/29/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I hesitate to recommend this as the top choice for anyone looking for their first Mahler 9. If you have not heard the Ninth before, this recording by Mahler's personal friend might not be the one for you. Barbirolli's and Haitink's Ninth offer much better sound and some excellent playing. Karajan's Ninth with the BPO is a good place to start. Rattle's Ninth impresses me.Those who already have a Mahler 9 and wish to supplement their valuable Mahler collection with historical recordings and alternative interpretations, have no hesitation whatsoever in purchasing this CD! One can get no more historical. This was Bruno Walter's last prewar performance with the VPO before he fled the Drittes Reich. Listen to the music and feel the tension of those last remaining days before the war.One can argue about the quality of playing, no one can say the sound quality is high (though in view of the date - 1938, the engineers in charge of remastering have done themselves proud). But listen carefully and you'll realize beneath the noise the performance is white-hot in intensity. No other Mahler 9s I have heard, including those mentioned above, approaches that level of emotion. Listening is believing. Admirers of Maestro Mahler's music deserve to have this CD in their collection."

Essential for Mahler lovers

R. J. Claster | Van Nuys, CA United States | 06/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although there are a number of very fine performances of this symphony in good stereo sound, this historic interpretation, given in the shadow of the Nazi takeover of Austria that everyone present knew was just about to occur, has a headlong urgency and intensity that, in my opinion, no subsequent recording has fully matched. Walter phrases with a natural elasticity of rubato, especially in the opening andante commodo movement, that highlights the marked fluctuations of tension within the music and projects its expressive rhetoric into sharper relief. Moreover, the prewar Vienna Philharmonic further enhances these qualities with its distinctive way of leaning into phrases that, in my opinion, imparts to them added profile and force. There are, admittedly, imprecisions of ensemble here and there, but not to the degree that would compromise the power of the performance. My only significant reservation is that the last movement is taken a little bit too quickly to be a true adagio (for what it is worth, I have heard that Walter later complained that the recording team made him play it faster than he wanted to).
Finally, I would recommend getting this particular remastering because its sound is significantly more vivid than that of the earlier EMI edition."

Best Seating For This Performance

The Aeolian | 02/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is no question about this performance: it is one of the treasures of recorded music, and ought to be in the collection of anyone who is drawn to Mahler's music. Its historical significance and performance qualities have been commented on at length, on this site and in reference works. What is special about this release is the superb Dutton remastering. As he has done so many times with archival recordings, Michael Dutton has smoothed out the harshness of other releases while preserving all the detail the sources can deliver. This release is a notch or two better than the EMI, and at this price it is to be grabbed and enjoyed, even marveled at, considering that it was produced in concert in 1938."