Overlooked Mahler (CD and SACD Reviews)

Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” (w/Brahms, Symphony No. 4)*; Symphony No. 5.**

*Brigitte Fassbaender, mezzo-soprano; Margaret Price, soprano; London Symphony Chorus; Leopold Stokowski, London Symphony Orchestra. RCA Victor Gold Seal 09026-62606-2. **Hartmut Haenchen, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra; Pentatone classics 5186 004.

By Karl W. Nehring

There are multitudes upon multitudes of Mahler recordings out there, sometimes even by the same conductor. Mahler fans often own multiple recordings of the same symphonies, but still look forward to hearing new recordings that continue to be released. However, for those fans who can never get their hands on enough Mahler recordings, but perhaps even more importantly, for those fans just starting to appreciate Mahler’s music, I would like to turn your attention to a couple of wonderful recordings that have both been around for a good while but are generally overlooked. Neither recording is by a conductor that most music lovers would associate with Mahler. However, both recordings are musical as well as sonic gems, well worth seeking out both by dedicated Mahlerians and by those just curious to see what this Mahler fellow is all about, anyway. 

Interestingly enough, Stokowski was in the audience in Vienna in when Mahler conducted the premiere of his Symphony No. 8. With the political situation in Vienna deteriorating, Stokowski obtained a copy of the score and managed to smuggle it in his luggage and bring it back to Philadelphia with him, where he was the newly appointed conductor of the at that time relatively unknown Philadelphia Orchestra. He insisted that the orchestra present the work and demanded on staging it with a choral force of 950(!) singers – an expense that the orchestra’s board thought way too financially risky. Through sheer force of will and a magnetic personality, Stokowski prevailed and he conducted the U.S. premiere of the work – leading a force of 1,069 musicians – in  March, 1916. The concert proved such a sensation that it was repeated several times in March and April to standing-room-only crowds and thrusting the orchestra into international prominence. (Stokowski’s life is one of the  most colorful imaginable, if you have never read about this now largely-forgotten conductor, do some web browsing and prepare to be entertained!) 

Leopold Stokowski

Although he frequently conducted Mahler in concert, Maestro Stokowski made few Mahler recordings, but this one is a definite keeper. It was made in 1974, when Stokowski was in his 90s. Always eager to embrace new sound technologies, in 1931 he worked with Dr. Harvey Fletcher of Bell Labs on the original stereophonic (three-channel, BTW) orchestral recordings. (If I may be allowed to insert a personal note, in his later life, Harvey Fletcher was married to my wife's grandmother, and in the mid-1970s, we spent many interesting times with “Uncle Harvey,” who even in his 90s was still fascinated by sound and still working on acoustics research. He loved to tell us tales of his work, and he showed us many pictures of him with Leopold Stokowski from those pioneering recording sessions.) For these Mahler sessions, Stokowski worked with the producers of this recording to capture the proceedings in quadraphonic sound, which was an exciting new technology at the time.

However, quadraphonic vinyl LPs never really established themselves in the marketplace. But with the advent of compact discs and digital surround-sound formats, BMG went back to the original quadraphonic master tapes, mixed them for Dolby Surround and released them on CD. I never did set up surround system in my home, but I enjoyed this CD in two-channel stereo and it certainly sounds excellent in that format. However, sometime in the early 2000s I took this CD along on a visit to the Legacy Audio facilities in Springfield, Illinois. In one of his several listening rooms, Bill Dudleston had set up a multi-channel system for the purpose of investigating various approaches to surround sound for both home theater and music listening. For the heck of it, we stuck the Stokowski CD in to the system and were bowled over by the resulting sound. Not only was the soundstage expansive left-to-right and front-to-back, but there was a sensation of height that was truly impressive. Dudleston had a scope in the system that allowed him to see the way the signal was allocated among the four main speakers – he was amazed to see that the Stokowski  CD yielded the cleanest, purest, most impressive signal division that he had ever encountered.

In terms of performance, Stokowski's Mahler is a bit on the slow side, but very expressive – this is a powerful, moving performance. With its excellent sound and majestic performance, this version of the "Resurrection" is one of the finest I have ever heard. If you are a fan of this symphony but have never heard this recording, well, you might want to put it on your want list.

By the way, Stokowski's Brahms 4th is also powerful, but in the opposite way -- it is performed at breakneck speed! A quick comparison: Mackerras's performances with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Telarc) are generally regarded as fast and lively. In the first movement, Mackerras clocks in at 12:02, Stokowski at 10:48. In the final movement, a set of dramatic theme and variations, Mackerras clocks in at 10:06, while Stokowski comes in at 9:51. Yes, this is probably much faster than Brahms intended (and remember, Mackerras is leading a chamber orchestra, while Stokowski is at the helm of the full LSO). It is hard to imagine this one being anyone’s first choice in the Brahms, but it is fun to listen to every once in a while. Majestic Mahler, manic Brahms. Most of the time, you can just start with Track 5, the opening movement of the Mahler.

When Mahler fans start discussing notable Mahler conductors, the names that usually pop up right away are familiar ones such as Bernstein, Abbado, Klemperer, and Barbirolli. The discussion might then move on to names such as Haitink, Karajan, Tilson Thomas, Abravanel, Jansons, Chailly, or the Fischer brothers. Ivan and Adam. One name you are very unlikely to hear is Haenchen. Who?!

Which is pretty much exactly what I thought some years back when this disc arrived along with a bunch of other Pentatone releases for possible review in my old “More Jazz Than Not” column in The $ensible Sound. For one reason or another, mostly because so many other recordings at the time seemed more appealing to audition than a Mahler 5 by some guy named Hartmut Haenchen (who?!) leading the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.

Hartmut Haenchen

Alas, that pretty much summed up my reaction to the recording when I received it as part of a box of releases from Pentatone back in 2002 or so when it was first released. I wound up never actually listening to it back then, moving on to other things. I vaguely remember reading a review or two over the years that said it was a nice recording, but I never really generated any real desire to hear it. Believe it or not, it wound up sitting on my shelf, still in its original shrink wrap, until just a month or so ago, when I decided that I wanted to listen to some more Mahler on SACD and remembered that I still had the Haenchen disc buried in my collection.

Oh. My. Goodness…

Both musically and sonically, this is one of the finest recordings of the Mahler Symphony No. 5 that I have ever heard. German conductor Hartmut Haenchen just seems to get everything right. Not too fast, not too slow. Plenty of dynamics, but not overblown exaggerations. The orchestra plays with precision and power, and the engineers have done a remarkable job of capturing a live concert performance in superb. The liner notes state that the recording was made by Polyhymnia, a recording firm that “specializes in high-end recordings of acoustic music on location in concert halls, churches, and auditoriums around the world. It is one of the worldwide leaders in producing high-resolution surround sound recordings for SACD and DVD Audio.” Based on this recording, I am willing to believe them. As I indicated above, I do not have a surround setup, so have only listened to the two-channel CD and SACD channels. Both layers yielded stunningly good sound.

Neither of these recordings ever seems to get mentioned in discussions of Mahler recordings, but both are gems. Overlooked gems. I recommend them both very highly!

KWN

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below: