What are the chances!? Literally just got home from hearing Mahler 8 performed by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. First time hearing the piece as a whole as well - (I'm 19 years old). Absolutely loved it though. Felt like a major life event haha!
I was there as well! Stunning performance by an underrated orchestra and conductor. It was the first performance of Mahler's 8 in Western Australia ever. What a coincidence that Dave just released a video abou this very piece today
My first exposure to a recording by Wit was Gorecki's 3rd symphony. That's something really special, and returning to Wit for other works has always been a good choice.
Thank you for your presentations. I've just recently started watching. Always something new to learn; I had never heard of Lászlo Lajtha until you mentioned his Eighth. He sounds pretty good. I like your pieces to complement the Pettersson symphonies. My daughter bought me the box set for Christmas many years ago. I’ve always listened to them in isolation, never Iimagining that any other music could go with them.
IIRC it was recorded at the Congress Hall which is this large auditorium inside the Palace of Culture and Science (a gift from Joseph Stalin to Warsaw which everybody hates but which tourists show on TH-cam with an annoying regularity). This Hall was also where Marlene Dietrich had her last concert. Last but not least, the Communist Party congresses were held there (with the likewise annoying regularity). But it does have good acoustics, but - no organ. So it must have been overdubbed and fortunately the overdub is excellent. I know that Dave does not like multichannel discs but this recording is also available in the 5.1 surround on the Blu-ray audio which brings those back balcony trumpets and voices very well. It also has subtitles (if you care to turn the TV on - optional) in the original languages and in English.
I have to get this recording. BTW I made a speech at this building (in a smaller auditorium I think -- there were about 1,000) on web 2.0 for a large software company around 15 years ago. I was told that the people of Warsaw really like the building since it is so ornate and different from the cookie-cutter skyscrapers going up.
@@eddihaskell Maybe younger people have a different view but the building was a symbol of Soviet domination, just like the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral used to be before WWI (history likes to repeat itself sometimes). After Poland regained independence, the Cathedral was demolished in 1920. For some reason the Palace of Culture (etc.) was not demolished after 1989. It still occupies that awful empty space in the Moscow style, where before the war were normal bustling city streets. American tourists seem to like the atrocity, they say it reminds them of Chicago! 🙂 Richard Feynman to his credit really hated the building when he visited Warsaw for some physics conference.
I agree that this is a great recording. I discovered it after your recommendation in a previous video. My first ever exposure to the work was through listening to the recording with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Simon Rattle. I still enjoy that recording, and I think it avoids many of the problems you describe.
What about Stokowski? Stokowski literally watched Mahler rehearse the 8th and took notes while he did, and was at the premiere obviously. Aside from that he was an absolute genius of his craft which is of course apparent in nearly everything he conducts. His Mahler 8 is incredible. The very best I think
Since Dave refers to this being recorded recently, I feel the urge to post the result of trying to compile a good (thus more than decent) Mahler cycle with only recordings since 1/01/2000. The idea got into my mind after a comment on another Mahler video, I think it was the one with a Mahler cycle with conductors who recorded only one or few of his symphonies. I also restricted myself to one work per conductor. Here it is: I Honeck / PSO / Exton II Jurowski / LPO / LPO III I.Fischer / BFO / Channel IV Bychkov / CzPO / Pentatone V Inbal / CzPO / Exton VI Eschenbach / Philhad. O / Ondine VII Barenboim / St.K. B. / Warner VIII Wit / WPO / Naxos (it was on the list before this video came out) IX MTT / SFSO / SFS X Dausgaard / Seattle SO LvdE Nezet-Seguin / LPO / LPO Still a little unsure about IX (have to hear Rattle/BRSO) and quite unsure about LvdE. Would be nice to hear some opinions...
I actually own this one, the reviews were very good when it was released. I have not listened too much to it because I have not been so fond of Mahler’s 8th. Perhaps I should try it again, it is true that Wit is very good in big choral works.
I have the Wit Mahler symphonies box. 5 of the first 7 symphonies were underwhelming (a couple of those really underwhelming). Then came the 8th and it was what I've been wanting (and expecting) from the others. Why couldn't the previous symphonies be at this level, I wondered.
Weird, isn't it? Bertini's cycle has always had patchy availability in contrast to Tendstedt's (mainly) studio version, which never seems to be unavailable (and both on EMI, as was). Shame as the Bertini is interpretively more consistent and certainly better recorded.
I know Wit mostly from his Penderecki recordings, but I’ll have to give this a spin. I got to see Vänskä with the MN Orchestra, and it was great and the recording is crisp and clear. But the venue isn’t like, say, the Royal Albert Hall, where you can really go big.
Even then, Jurowski's Mahler 8 with the LPO in that venue isn't exactly the most grandiose performance either. These recordings really depend on the engineers and other factors that are sometimes separate from the venue's acoustics in real life.
This came perfectly as im about to visit a Mahler 8 concert tomorrow, with a certain Ben Palmer as conductor in Darmstadt. Im not expecting much, but hey, how often do you get the chance?
What are the chances!? Literally just got home from hearing Mahler 8 performed by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. First time hearing the piece as a whole as well - (I'm 19 years old). Absolutely loved it though. Felt like a major life event haha!
I was there as well! Stunning performance by an underrated orchestra and conductor. It was the first performance of Mahler's 8 in Western Australia ever. What a coincidence that Dave just released a video abou this very piece today
The same for me at your age, but in the 1970s.
Mahler s 8th Symphony subtitled The Symphony of a Thousand is music that brings the listener to Heavenly realms at the very end
Great go hear.
As you get older, you will see that it is a major life event!
My first exposure to a recording by Wit was Gorecki's 3rd symphony. That's something really special, and returning to Wit for other works has always been a good choice.
Thanks Dave, for validating my own judgment (LOL) of this fabulous Naxos recording! It is my fave Mahler 8 - of the recordings I've heard.
How does this compare to the live Tennstedt/LPO one (1988ish?) on the LPO own label? I'd always thought that nigh on impossible to improve on.
@@tomgauterin1723 I don't recall having heard the live Tennstedt. I should have a listen.
@@Bezart34 Do! Earth-shaking hardly covers it. And the same team's Resurrection from 1989 is, if anything, even better...
@@tomgauterin1723 I definitely will! 👍
Wonderful! Just listened to it. Mahler is so hard to capture on recordings. This one is spine tingling with a great sense of space. Thank you!
It’s incredible how this performance is self recommending… It really is one of the greatest recordings ever!
I got it based on your previous recommendation, but in BluRay audio. A great performance that sounds amazing, especially in this format!
Thank you for your presentations. I've just recently started watching. Always something new to learn; I had never heard of Lászlo Lajtha until you mentioned his Eighth. He sounds pretty good. I like your pieces to complement the Pettersson symphonies. My daughter bought me the box set for Christmas many years ago. I’ve always listened to them in isolation, never Iimagining that any other music could go with them.
IIRC it was recorded at the Congress Hall which is this large auditorium inside the Palace of Culture and Science (a gift from Joseph Stalin to Warsaw which everybody hates but which tourists show on TH-cam with an annoying regularity). This Hall was also where Marlene Dietrich had her last concert. Last but not least, the Communist Party congresses were held there (with the likewise annoying regularity). But it does have good acoustics, but - no organ. So it must have been overdubbed and fortunately the overdub is excellent. I know that Dave does not like multichannel discs but this recording is also available in the 5.1 surround on the Blu-ray audio which brings those back balcony trumpets and voices very well. It also has subtitles (if you care to turn the TV on - optional) in the original languages and in English.
I have to get this recording. BTW I made a speech at this building (in a smaller auditorium I think -- there were about 1,000) on web 2.0 for a large software company around 15 years ago. I was told that the people of Warsaw really like the building since it is so ornate and different from the cookie-cutter skyscrapers going up.
@@eddihaskell Maybe younger people have a different view but the building was a symbol of Soviet domination, just like the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral used to be before WWI (history likes to repeat itself sometimes). After Poland regained independence, the Cathedral was demolished in 1920. For some reason the Palace of Culture (etc.) was not demolished after 1989. It still occupies that awful empty space in the Moscow style, where before the war were normal bustling city streets. American tourists seem to like the atrocity, they say it reminds them of Chicago! 🙂 Richard Feynman to his credit really hated the building when he visited Warsaw for some physics conference.
Marvelous recording.
I agree that this is a great recording. I discovered it after your recommendation in a previous video. My first ever exposure to the work was through listening to the recording with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Simon Rattle. I still enjoy that recording, and I think it avoids many of the problems you describe.
What about Stokowski? Stokowski literally watched Mahler rehearse the 8th and took notes while he did, and was at the premiere obviously. Aside from that he was an absolute genius of his craft which is of course apparent in nearly everything he conducts. His Mahler 8 is incredible. The very best I think
Not even close.
I thank you profusely for not choosing the now dated Solti recording. It was good for its era.
Since Dave refers to this being recorded recently, I feel the urge to post the result of trying to compile a good (thus more than decent) Mahler cycle with only recordings since 1/01/2000. The idea got into my mind after a comment on another Mahler video, I think it was the one with a Mahler cycle with conductors who recorded only one or few of his symphonies. I also restricted myself to one work per conductor. Here it is:
I Honeck / PSO / Exton
II Jurowski / LPO / LPO
III I.Fischer / BFO / Channel
IV Bychkov / CzPO / Pentatone
V Inbal / CzPO / Exton
VI Eschenbach / Philhad. O / Ondine
VII Barenboim / St.K. B. / Warner
VIII Wit / WPO / Naxos (it was on the list before this video came out)
IX MTT / SFSO / SFS
X Dausgaard / Seattle SO
LvdE Nezet-Seguin / LPO / LPO
Still a little unsure about IX (have to hear Rattle/BRSO) and quite unsure about LvdE.
Would be nice to hear some opinions...
I actually own this one, the reviews were very good when it was released. I have not listened too much to it because I have not been so fond of Mahler’s 8th. Perhaps I should try it again, it is true that Wit is very good in big choral works.
I have the Wit Mahler symphonies box. 5 of the first 7 symphonies were underwhelming (a couple of those really underwhelming). Then came the 8th and it was what I've been wanting (and expecting) from the others. Why couldn't the previous symphonies be at this level, I wondered.
Good question.
Rooting for the underdog when it's also the top dog. I like that.
Great that Wit is your choice. It seems strange, but this recording is superb! It would be also under mine greatest Mahler-recordings, at least.
Mr H - if you didn't exist, we'd have to invent you. Another guide to the best from the best: and, dammit - you just are.
Speaking of great Mahler 8s, has anyone noticed that Bertini's Mahler cycle is now almost impossible to get hold of?
Weird, isn't it? Bertini's cycle has always had patchy availability in contrast to Tendstedt's (mainly) studio version, which never seems to be unavailable (and both on EMI, as was). Shame as the Bertini is interpretively more consistent and certainly better recorded.
I know Wit mostly from his Penderecki recordings, but I’ll have to give this a spin.
I got to see Vänskä with the MN Orchestra, and it was great and the recording is crisp and clear. But the venue isn’t like, say, the Royal Albert Hall, where you can really go big.
Even then, Jurowski's Mahler 8 with the LPO in that venue isn't exactly the most grandiose performance either. These recordings really depend on the engineers and other factors that are sometimes separate from the venue's acoustics in real life.
Ozawa or Solti were my references recordings, But I guess I will add Wit to the list.
I guess you should.
Para mi fue:
- 1. Bertini
- 2. Wit
- 3. Vanska
This came perfectly as im about to visit a Mahler 8 concert tomorrow, with a certain Ben Palmer as conductor in Darmstadt. Im not expecting much, but hey, how often do you get the chance?