# Random Review of the Day



## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

Maybe it's a fun idea to have a thread with short reviews of the things we listen to. Can be recent releases or just anything that's on one's play list.

I'll start with this one, praised by Hurwitz so that set off some alarm bells.










As the cheapskate I am, I listened to it at youtube, thanks to the kind people from the Lille orchestra, who made the entire performance available.
It certainly deserves some of the praise it got. Orchestral playing is more than fine, apparently even French provincial bands have gotten so good that they can play this insanely complicated score without blinking an eye. And it's like Bloch wants to show you exactly that: listen how great my players are! Every detail is audible, it's like the score unfolds before your eyes - or ears. Nothing is relegated to the background. And that's where I feel lies the problem with this recording. While Bloch displays a lot of senstitivity in his use of rubato, he often seems to forget where the main tunes are. There are spots in the middle movements where the texture is just a jungle of contrapuntal lines, without the necessary emphasis on the big themes. Climaxes are rather underplayed too, because Bloch wants you to hear everything and perfect transparency isn't always compatible with maximum expression.
The tempi are on the swift side, which works well most of the time, but I find the 2nd Nachtmusik too hurried.
It's still a fine addition to the Mahler discography - but I won't trade Chailly (Concertgebouw) for this one.


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