3人の方が、このレビューに｢共感｣しています。
　2012/06/05

This may be the best sounding Bruckner Seventh ever produced.

Recorded live from the Philharmonie Hall in Muchner Gasteig, May 1987, its has unusual amount of warmth, reverberation, but also clarity that allows many details to come forward naturally without a slightest hint of clinical quality that marred many digital recordings in its early period. It sounds as if the entire orchestra is dipped into plush of the ’acoustic cushion’ and filtered through it at every moment!

What about Davis’ reading?

His is not far off from the traditional norm in tempo, phrasing or balance： he just lets the music unfold naturally and speak for itself. The Bavarian Radio Symphony, one of the best orchestras in Europe, responds with all their commitment, poise and panache.

One oddity： For some reason, the Scherzo is placed after the opening Allegro moderato while the Adagio comes in the third movement. Needless to say, it changes the structure and mood of the symphony, redistributing the balance more evenly than Bruckner intended. It’s a nice change and moves from one movement to another seamlessly thanks to Davis’ careful phrasing and attention to details. Played either way, it still is great music - some might say the best and most accessible - by the composer.

I cannot recommend this CD highly enough.

1人の方が、このレビューに｢共感｣しています。
　2012/04/28

The playing is not only note perfect but also engaging, the ensemble always precise and synchronized. Based on this recording, I can conclude that for the past six years Chung has built the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra into a world class band (these are not just my own words!). It is built from bottom to top, with solid bass instruments, dark strings, prominent woodwinds, and golden brass. The strings in particular have flexibility in their tone and phrasing, a rarity in typical Asian orchestras. The trumpet is impressively rock solid and never fails to register even in the thickest passages. Ditto the horns and trombones. We know all of these are the essential elements in performing Mahler, don’t we? Top top it all, Chung has a few surprising but genuine touches in his sleeves, such as the dreamy, slow introduction in I., the speedup in the coda of I. and II., the expansive middle passage in III., the slow and long second theme in IV. Speaking of the tempo shifts and rubatos, Chung applies with such care and intuition that none of them sound forced or artificial. Needless to say, they all work to enhance the drive, energy, and romance in the piece. Overall, Chung’s interpretation reminds me of Eschenbach/BSO concert at Tanglewood that I attended in the 90s.

The only downside is that being recorded at the sonically notorious Art House Center, Seoul, Korea, the recording lacks somewhat in the bass. But otherwise, the DG recording team headed by the renowned producer Michael Fine captured the concert with clarity, a good balance, ambiance, and a startling presence.

So, all things considered, this is a Mahler First to treasure.

I suspect this is the version I will turn to most for now.

Highly recommended.

5人の方が、このレビューに｢共感｣しています。
　2012/04/28

In the opening funeral movement, the rich and rock solid sound of the orchestra is quite ear-catching. To borrow some critic’s word, it is ’beefy’, a quality that is hard to find in Asian orchestras. Based on this and previous CD releases that feature Chung/SPO, it is clear that under maestro Chung’s leadership the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra has grown into a world class ensemble with the unique sonority and high discipleship.

Chung’s reading is, as expected, temporally flexible, texturally rich and precise, his concept of the music grand in scale but minute in details. This is a big, hugely romantic view of Resurrection Symphony where memories of dead man’s life are cherished with much sympathy and respect： the opening Allegro motif in the low strings, which is usually sprung with great attack, has never sounded warmer but also clearer thanks to Chung’s slow than normal tempo that allows the series of dotted notes sound exactly as written in the score. In the development, there is a certain tranquility shimmering and hanging like a ghost. Listen how the horns, trumpets register in the extraordinarily controlled pianissimo. Yet, when the score calls for utmost strength in tutti passages, e.g., the main climax that leads up to the recapitulation, the orchestra explodes with all hands breaking loose. It is to Chung’s credit that the final descending chords are undone in a moderate tempo (as per the score) finishing off this 24 min. long epic with poise and exemplary restraint.

The rest of the performance goes equally well. The two middle movements are not too far from the norm in tempo and dynamic contrast, providing a nice respite from the burden of the mundane life depicted in the previous movement. In the Urlicht mezzo soprano Petra Lang sings with a voice that is aptly weighty and spiritual.

The Finale is rendered very broadly clocking nearly 38 min. But Chung fills up the void in this long movement with many fine details. Again, his former experience in the French repertoire must have helped achieve the level of concentration and refinement that are so well on display in this recording. Under his baton, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra literally burnishes, glows, and rocks in the apocalyptic conclusion.

One final Note. If the symphony’s ending right after the chorus cuts out sounds somewhat anticlimactic, Chung’s slight down-scaling of the dynamics herein is a stroke of genius! As in Otto Klemperer’s celebrated EMI recording and Claudio Abbado’s razor sharp Chicago version on DG, his emphasis seems to be on the main climax, i.e., the chorus ＆ orchestra combined that precedes the pure orchestra passage. Here, aided by the outstanding singing from the chorus and soloists all of whom sing like Angles, and the finely tuned orchestra, he achieves a state of true exaltation and elevation. Chung’s arguments is then, what follows after such an apotheosis should be a ’wrap-up’ rather than another ’ramp-up’. He has done just that quite nicely.

The recording sound tops the previous effort in Mahler First with a wide dynamic range and open sound stage that adds to the scale and scope of this mammoth symphony. It was recorded at the acoustically dry and taxing Art House Hall, but led by Michael Fine, the recording producer of the Seoul Philharmonic, the DG engineers have done themselves proud. Alas, as in most recordings the organ rather weak although the low ＆ high tam tam, bell are well audible.

I can’t wait for the next installment in the Chung/SPO/DG series!

3人の方が、このレビューに｢共感｣しています。
　2012/03/22

Unlike his Mahler Fourth, Stenz’s newest Mahler recording is a rather straightforward performance that emphasizes the architecture and formality of this most gigantic, ambitious of all works by the composer.

I liked the first two middle movements and Finale very much, but had a mild reservation about I. and IV. In the opening of the symphony much of Stenz’s interpretation is unaffected and didn’t seem to hold much of my breath. Likewise, alto Schuster’s contribution is somewhat undistinguished and earthbound compared to say, Marilyn Horne in James Levine’s RCA rendition.

On the other hand, the 2nd movt is terrific as are the Scherzo and the Finale. Here, not only the playing is of the highest order, Stenz’s focus on articulating many rhythmic and dynamic contrasts pays off very nicely. Clocking under 22 min. Stenz’s Adagio is one of the shortest on record and yet not a single bar sounds rushed under his baton. The symphony culminates in a stunningly grandiose fashion as it should. Well done!

Going back to Part I., I suspected the problem is partly due to the engineering which puts the orchestra in steely, hard sounding acoustics without much warmth and ambiance： the mid to high frequency range is excellent but the bass is wanting, although there is plenty of dynamic range whenever it is called for, e.g., the coda. Having said this, there no hint of digital glare or shrillness we often encountered in the early digital era. More importantly, when I increased the volume the sound came into a tighter focus and provided much ambiance. So, turn the volume up, way up!

How to sum up? Overall, I admire Stenz’s firm grasp of this gigantic symphony and I can understand his decision to scale down the first movt. a bit so that it fits better with Part II. Perhaps this recording will wear better upon repeated hearings.

By all accounts then, this is an excellent Mahler Third. We’re spoiled with many good versions including Bernstein (Sony ＆ DG), Levine, Haitink (Amsterdam), Ozawa, Honeck, and now Stenz.

I am sure I will certainly revisit the disc again and again.

2人の方が、このレビューに｢共感｣しています。
　2011/04/23

The sound heard on this Blu-ray disc is amazingly clean, warm and vivid, although it is not in DTS or any discernable digital format. There is a (very) slight dynamic compression, being originally recorded for TV, but it is never distracting or bothering my ears.

The BSO is phenomenal giving their best performance of this piece for their departing music director. The Boston string is incredibly rich and has a warmly resonating quality, the brass golden and appropriately heavy, while Everett ’Vic’ Firth’s timpani is everything I can ask for - accurate and crisp, justly loud and authoritative.

Ozawa’s reading had ripened over the years (the Finale clocks over 27 min.). It is grand in scale, minute in details, but also extraordinarily cogent. Surpassing his earlier recordings with BSO and SKO, it’s his best M9th to date and one of his finest achievements in Boston.

This Mahler Ninth ranks with Bernstein (1965, 1979 Tanglewood, 1985), Levine (analogue, PO), Karajan (digital, BPO), and Solti (analogue, LSO).

A must for anyone who loves this great work.

Timings of the four movements are,

I. 27’02”
II. 15’53”
III. 13’14”
IV. 27’20”

P.S. Don’t worry about the infamous audience coughing in the Finale - the Japanese engineers cleverly attenuated the noise without a noticeable glitch.