MAHLER Symphony No 6, Tragic (Zander)
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Gustav Mahler
Genre:
Orchestral
Label: Brattle Media
Magazine Review Date: 11/2017
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 80
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 711583260223

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Symphony No. 6 |
Gustav Mahler, Composer
Benjamin Zander, Conductor Boston Phiharmonic Youth Orchestra Gustav Mahler, Composer |
Author: Jed Distler
If the Scherzo proved the Philharmonia version’s strongest asset, the similarly energised Boston reading is better balanced; you hear the xylophone, for example, and the tubas and basses are more assured. The Andante now clocks in two minutes less than before but it’s less a question of speed than of Zander’s newfound expressive economy; he’s mostly (if not completely) quashed his habit of inserting ritards at cadences and phrase endings. The woodwinds, in turn, make more of their solo opportunities and bring superior animation and transparency to concertante sections, such as the gorgeous convergence of flutes, clarinets and solo cor anglais about 1'41" into the movement.
While Zander doesn’t offer a finale to match the emotional volatility and gut-wrenching dynamism that secure reference status for the Bernstein/Vienna, Solti/Chicago, Chailly/Concertgebouw and live Tennstedt/LPO recordings, he now takes to heart Mahler’s directive to move things along from bars 28‑40 (around 1'33"), and the climaxes emerge as inevitable rather than tacked on as an afterthought. Furthermore, the delicately diverse scoring at fig 145 (19'34") gains newfound cogency, with the celesta and harp clearly supporting the flute and oboe solos, not to mention the more shapely Grazioso section up ahead. Just don’t expect a powerful build-up to the first two hammer blows. Still, this is Zander’s most successful Mahler recording since the Ninth Symphony with the Philharmonia (Telarc, 4/99).
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