# Early Mahler symphony recordings (78's, etc.)



## Albert7

For reference I've been looking for early Mahler recordings pre 1940's.

Here is a box set:

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Gustav-Mahler-Issued-1903-1940/dp/B00EIPIL2M/ref=sr_1_sc_1

and a good discography:

http://gustavmahler.net.free.fr/us.html thanks to mahlerian.

Cool, just wanted to share folks


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## david johnson

I think that is very interesting


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## joen_cph

Some good stuff there, Walter´s especially. 

We can only dream of a complete recorded Mahler cycle with Mengelberg (there´s the 4th too), or Walter in the 30s, or better sound and bigger orchestra from Fried.

Scherchen, albeit somewhat later, is another example of Mahler playing that sounds very different from nowadays, at times taking bigger liberties, and with varying results.


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## Albert7

Thanks guys. I appreciate your feedback .


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## Vaneyes

This Mahler discography link might be helpful in the hunt for early recordings. Personally, with the breadth of Mahler orchestration, I don't find mono too enjoyable.:tiphat:

http://gustavmahler.net.free.fr/us.html


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## joen_cph

However I hope that many would agree that the early 9th with Walter from the 30s has surprisingly good sound (at least mine has, the Magic Talent CD, don´t remember that of my EMI LP).


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## bigshot

If you'd like, I did a transfer of Walter's 9th from an original pressing. I can post a link to it if anyone is interested.


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## Albert7

bigshot said:


> If you'd like, I did a transfer of Walter's 9th from an original pressing. I can post a link to it if anyone is interested.


Cool can you PM me the link?


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## bigshot

Mahler Symphony No 9: Walter / VPO
http://www.vintageip.com/xfers/mahler9walter1938.mp3


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## Albert7

bigshot said:


> Mahler Symphony No 9: Walter / VPO
> http://www.vintageip.com/xfers/mahler9walter1938.mp3


Thanks downloading it right now.


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## gardibolt

The Ulricht set of Mahler 78s, transferred by Marston and Obert-Thorn, long out of print, is now available as a digital download:

https://www.classicselectworld.com/collections/the-music-of-gustav-mahler-digital-editions


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## NLAdriaan

The rise to fame of Mahler coincided with the arrival of hi-quality stereo recordings and LP records in the late sixties. From Bernstein onwards it became fashionable for conductors to record entire Mahler cycles, even two if the first was in the analogue recording age (Bernstein, Haitink) or three (Abbado). The varied instrumentation and multi layered complex music of Mahler is at least very well served with good quality clear stereo recording technique. Could wel be there is a correlation between the two.


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## Larkenfield

Actually, if I might add something of a clarification or additional details. It was Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony who recorded the first Mahler cycle (1-9). Bernstein started recording his in 1960 and didn't complete it until 1968 with the NYP, all of which are now available on the Sony label... I would attribute the rise of Mahler to the centennial of his birth, and in 1960 there was a Mahler Centennial Celebration in NY that was hosted by Bernstein and included performances by Bernstein, Bruno Walter (who was a friend and colleague of Mahler), plus Alma Mahler, his former wife, was in attendance and musicians who had played with Mahler 50 years earlier-a major event all the way around... Bernstein also did a famous Young People's Concert on TV in 1960 that gave tremendous exposure to the composer and generated a momentum of interest that has continued to today. Nevertheless, Bernstein certainly did one of first and most famous cycles. But the Abravanel cycle is also excellent and available as a download:

Abravanel: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Mahler-Box-Bach-Guild/dp/B008J7G5LO
Bernstein YPC: [video]https://openmusiclibrary.org/videos/6352/[/video]


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## flamencosketches

^When was the Abravnel cycle completed? To be perfectly honest I didn't know there was a Utah Symphony, let alone that they were radical enough to complete a Mahler cycle in the 50s-60s. 

I just ordered the Bernstein/NY cycle on Sony. Very excited to hear it. I'm a new Mahler fan and it seems like a good place to start (if not finish) my exploration.


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## Larkenfield

flamencosketches said:


> ^When was the Abravnel cycle completed? To be perfectly honest I didn't know there was a Utah Symphony, let alone that they were radical enough to complete a Mahler cycle in the 50s-60s.
> 
> I just ordered the Bernstein/NY cycle on Sony. Very excited to hear it. I'm a new Mahler fan and it seems like a good place to start (if not finish) my exploration.


Abravanel's pioneering recording of a complete stereo Mahler Symphony cycle began in the early 1960s with two of the least performed symphonies (Nos. 7 & 8), and concluded about 10 years later. Abravanel/Utah was the very first Mahler cycle to be recorded completely in the USA, and one of the first to be recorded anywhere. (Leonard Bernstein's "first anywhere" New York Philharmonic/CBS Mahler cycle, now on Sony Classics, abandoned New York to record the 8th Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra.) Good luck with Mahler. He can be richly rewarding.


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## flamencosketches

Larkenfield said:


> Abravanel's pioneering recording of a complete stereo Mahler Symphony cycle began in the early 1960s with two of the least performed symphonies (Nos. 7 & 8), and concluded about 10 years later. Abravanel/Utah was the very first Mahler cycle to be recorded completely in the USA, and one of the first to be recorded anywhere. (Leonard Bernstein's "first anywhere" New York Philharmonic/CBS Mahler cycle, now on Sony Classics, abandoned New York to record the 8th Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra.) Good luck with Mahler. He can be richly rewarding.


I think so too. I like 3 out of the 4 symphonies I heard. I'm pretty sure the box set I have is ALL NYPO. Does that mean the 8th would be a later recording?


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