# Barbirolli Mahler box set



## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

WowI just came across this box set for the first time. It was released last year. What a bargain! Symphonies Nos. 1, 5, 6, & 9 plus the Lieder with Janet Baker. For me these are the top stereo choices for all these works. I can’t think of a better Mahler set on the market.









And yes, I recognize some will disagree. The 1st is not as well recorded as Kubelik or Bernstein/DG. The 5th finale and especially 6th 1st movement are on the slow side. The BPO didn’t quite have the 9th under their belt as they did with Karajan. But all this for me takes a back seat to Barbirolli’s compelling, passionate way with the music. Never stale.


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## Monsalvat (11 mo ago)

Barbirolli introduced Mahler to the Berlin Philharmonic before Karajan did, I think. His Ninth with them is remarkable. The Sixth is certainly on the slow side but dark and extremely powerful. He knew how to build shattering climaxes in this music, which he felt so deeply. I don't think I've heard his First or the Lieder, so I will have to try those. But my recollections of Barbirolli's Mahler are that he was intense, emotive, and searingly passionate.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

While Barbirolli did some Mahler in the 30s * and during his New York tenure, it was only the early 1950s that he seriously dug into Mahler. He did take his time about it as he said that it took him 18 months to 2 years to completely come to grips with each symphony before being ready to perform it. The recording of the 1st must have been one of his earlier as it is from 1957 so is early stereo, predating the Mahler boom.

As an aside, it is unfortunate the Warner was not able to get the rights to include Barbirolli's live performance of the 3rd with the Halle which Deryck Cooke described as "one of the finest Mahler performances I have ever heard." And then there is the exceptional Proms 6th!

* He conducted _Kindertotenlieder_ with Elena Gerhardt in 1931.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

And too bad they couldn't find a way to include his 2nd and 7th. Barbirolli's 6th on EMI has always been my reference standard, first movement repeat ignored and all. One of the great could-have-beens was his not doing a complete cycle.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

I can think of many other Mahler box sets I like more than Barbirolli's, but his isn't too shabby. For me, the best performances in that set are the orchesterlieder with Janet Baker and _Symphony No. 6_. Too bad he never got around to recording a complete cycle.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

For a complete stereo set, I would supplement this with Mehta in 2, Horenstein in both 3 & 4, Abbado/CSO in 7, and Bernstein/DG in 8.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

One of the really upsetting 'what might have been's - the scheduled recording of the 7th in 1971 with the Berlin PO 😢


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> For a complete stereo set, I would supplement this with Mehta in 2, Horenstein in both 3 & 4, Abbado/CSO in 7, and Bernstein/DG in 8.


His 3rd is available in stereo...


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Becca said:


> His 3rd is available in stereo...


It’s a live concert recording though, isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great recording. I was talking about stereo studio choices.

For Mahler 3, my favorites are this Barbirolli you mention, Horenstein, and above all F. Charles Adler from 1952. Slightly after these three would be Bernstein/Sony.


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## Monsalvat (11 mo ago)

Becca said:


> One of the really upsetting 'what might have been's - the scheduled recording of the 7th in 1971 with the Berlin PO 😢


Wow I didn't know about this. Wish we could hear what he would have done with that score. A bit surprising that EMI would have scheduled this just three years after recording Klemperer. What a lost opportunity.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Becca said:


> His 3rd is available in stereo...


I've seen this recording before, how's the audio quality?


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

The quality of the 3rd is very good. IIRC it was done for a BBC broadcast and I'm not even sure if there was an audience.

A few years ago I compared some recordings of the 3rd including the Barbirolli, Horenstein, Adler, Chailly (and one other?). They were all very good but I felt that Barbirolli came out slightly ahead because of his approach to the last movement.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Monsalvat said:


> Wow I didn't know about this. Wish we could hear what he would have done with that score. A bit surprising that EMI would have scheduled this just three years after recording Klemperer. What a lost opportunity.


It was probably a case of taking advantage of a scheduled BPO concert. Also remember that EMI had two labels back then, HMV and Columbia and IIRC, the Klemperer and Barbirolli recordings were not released on the same label.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Becca said:


> The quality of the 3rd is very good. IIRC it was done for a BBC broadcast and I'm not even sure if there was an audience.
> 
> A few years ago I compared some recordings of the 3rd including the Barbirolli, Horenstein, Adler, Chailly (and one other?). They were all very good but I felt that Barbirolli came out slightly ahead because of his approach to the last movement.


Thanks, Becca. On your recommendation, I just bought this recording. It's OOP, but I found it for a good price.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Becca said:


> One of the really upsetting 'what might have been's - the scheduled recording of the 7th in 1971 with the Berlin PO 😢


Becca, do you know this recording of the 7th with the combined forces of the Halle & BBC Northern SO from 1960?


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

Becca said:


> One of the really upsetting 'what might have been's - the scheduled recording of the 7th in 1971 with the Berlin PO 😢


This along with the Klemperer recording of the 6th that was supposed to be done but never materialised.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Malx said:


> Becca, do you know this recording of the 7th with the combined forces of the Halle & BBC Northern SO from 1960?


I really listened to it recently for the first time but don't have a much of opinion at this time. What is fascinating is that those two symphonies were a single evening concert ... the Nielsen before intermission and the Mahler afterwards.


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

Becca said:


> I really listened to it recently for the first time but don't have a much of opinion at this time. What is fascinating is that those two symphonies were a single evening concert ... the Nielsen before intermission and the Mahler afterwards.


Indeed, quite an evening. 
I did read that the concert drew a good number of critics and musicologists including Deryck Cooke - performances of Mahler symphonies weren't common in 1960 and the 7th was regarded by many commentators as 'problematic'.
Do you recall how good the sound quality of the recording is?


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Malx said:


> Indeed, quite an evening.
> I did read that the concert drew a good number of critics and musicologists including Deryck Cooke - performances of Mahler symphonies weren't common in 1960 and the 7th was regarded by many commentators as 'problematic'.
> Do you recall how good the sound quality of the recording is?


Average quality broadcast (?) mono ... not great but listenable


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

Years ago I had Barbirolli's Mahler #6 on a double-LP set. Late one night I played it on my faux-quadrophonic stereo rig, created by wiring the rear speakers out of phase with the front speakers. I was settled in listening to the music when I noticed an odd, rhythmic pained "snuffling" sound behind me originating in the rear speakers. I listened carefully for a couple minutes then suddenly realized the rear speakers had extracted the labored breathing and gasps of a man dead more than two decades. Unnerved (it was the middle of the night) I switched off the stereo and went to bed. Some reviews of the recording do mention that the microphones captured Barbirolli's heavy breathing, a distraction to careful listeners.


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

Monsalvat said:


> He knew how to build shattering climaxes in this music, which he felt so deeply.


I think the best way to get convinced of Barbirolli's qualities in Mahler is listening to the climax, with the chorale, in the 2nd movement of the 5th. I never heard that being done more convincingly.
Same for the 9th, first movement. The intensity of that shattering climax is only matched by Ancerl's recording.

Re: the BBC 3rd - wasn't it Deryk Cooke who claimed this was the greatest 3rd ever, and it was a shame that there wasn't an official release yet?
I wouldn't go that far, the playing by the Hallé is a bit on the shabby side, specially in the first movement, but on the other hand... I can't think of a more lyrical, heartfelt performance of the last movement.

Too bad he never did a studio recording of the 7th. That's the one Mahler symphony that must have fitted him like a glove.


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## Subutai (Feb 28, 2021)

I've created my very own Barbirolli Mahler 'Frankencyle'. 1, 5, 6, 9 as in the aforementioned EMI box. 
Symphony 2 with Stuttgart Radio Symphony live recording available on EMI in their 'Great Conductors of the 20th Century' 2CD set.
Symphony 3 & 4 with the Halle and BBC Symphony respectively. Again recorded live and available on BBC Legends.
Sadly he never got round to recording Symphony 7 and 8.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Subutai said:


> I've created my very own Barbirolli Mahler 'Frankencyle'. 1, 5, 6, 9 as in the aforementioned EMI box.
> Symphony 2 with Stuttgart Radio Symphony live recording available on EMI in their 'Great Conductors of the 20th Century' 2CD set.
> Symphony 3 & 4 with the Halle and BBC Symphony respectively. Again recorded live and available on BBC Legends.
> Sadly he never got round to recording Symphony 7 and 8.


There is a Barbirolli Society recording of the 7th from a 1960 broadcast concert, see post #15 in this thread.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Subutai said:


> I've created my very own Barbirolli Mahler 'Frankencyle'. 1, 5, 6, 9 as in the aforementioned EMI box.
> Symphony 2 with Stuttgart Radio Symphony live recording available on EMI in their 'Great Conductors of the 20th Century' 2CD set.
> Symphony 3 & 4 with the Halle and BBC Symphony respectively. Again recorded live and available on BBC Legends.
> Sadly he never got round to recording Symphony 7 and 8.


That is my favorite 2nd. One of the few to really make me respond to a symphony that I have always thought a bit overrated.


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## Subutai (Feb 28, 2021)

Becca said:


> There is a Barbirolli Society recording of the 7th from a 1960 broadcast concert, see post #15 in this thread.


Thanks for the heads up! The particular recording you point me to was also released on BBC Legends - alas in mono (no doubt the reason I forgot about it)


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