# Gilbert Kaplan ... Mahler scholar or charlatan



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Gilbert Kaplan, the Wall Street millionaire who learned how to conduct in order to conduct the Mahler 2nd, died last month. He performed the work many times with major orchestras and claimed to have found and corrected many errors in the score. I have never heard his version(s) of M2 and so will refrain from any opinions, but what do you think?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/12077312/Gilbert-Kaplan-conductor-obituary.html


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## Jeffrey Smith (Jan 2, 2016)

Definitely not a charlatan. I have his second with the Vienna PO but not his first recording, and always thought he did an excellent job which can't always be said of some other conductors well known for their Mahler: not my favorite recording of the Second, but definitely among my preferred performances.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I admire Kaplan greatly. He gave himself a formidable goal and made good on it.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

I admire his enthusiasm, but his recordings of the Mahler Second are awful and distinguished primarily by their utter lack of any interpretive character.


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## ribonucleic (Aug 20, 2014)

I had no critical faculties in 1988 when his original recording came out, but I liked it. I haven't heard it since then.

I have no doubt there are better versions available. But I don't see how any reasonable person could label him a "charlatan". At worst, a skilled amateur among professionals.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

One of the things I like about Becca's threads is that 90% of the time I have no idea what the answer is.

Unlike threads which ask was Johnson a great composer?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I have neither the desire nor the curiosity to hear either of Kaplan's recordings but there are far worse things a tycoon could do instead of conducting a symphony he obviously loves even if it was something of a vanity project - a bit like having your own F1 racing team but knowing it will never be really successful. He wasn't a charlatan - more a dilettante with money to burn, I'd say. 

Oh, blimey - according to Wikipedia he died yesterday...


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