# recommend me a Mahler 9 please



## Jaime77

hi there, 

well i have known of this amazing mahler symphony for some time now. i have kubelik - altho the cd is scratched  but i also have barbirolli from the great recordings of the century series. i am looking for something more 'modern', newer - perhaps recorded in the last 30 years. 

i am an old romantic in the sense that the more moving the version the better - rather that than some 'clinical' reading. for me it has a lot to do with how the finale is handled. 

thanks so much

Jamie


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## ScipioAfricanus

Go straight to Bernstein without hesitation.


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## Chi_townPhilly

Jaime77 said:


> Well I have known of this amazing Mahler symphony for some time now.


Ahh, Mahler 9. Has had a secure spot on my '10 favorite symphonies' list for years, now.


ScipioAfricanus said:


> Go straight to Bernstein without hesitation.


Easy reply to this is "which one?" [There are at least three.]

My first thought on reading the title of the thead was 'Tennstedt,' but I readily concede that most published critics prefer Bernstein's renditions- and that I'm more fond of the Tennstedt than most critics are. However, then I took note of this passage:


Jaime77 said:


> For me it has a lot to do with how the finale is handled.


_American Record Guide_ reviewer and Ohio State Music History Teacher Arved Ashby, although not giving his top recommendation to Tennstedt's 9, had this to say about it:


> [In the finale] the music making is perfectly paced, noble in its simplicity, and well played. The hushed and rarified ending is particularly moving- perhaps the most moving close on disc.


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## handlebar

There are plethora of good to great M9's out there. The last 10 years have Rattle,Tilson Thomas and Boulez all putting in good recordings. I prefer the MTT of these three. The Bernstein DG version is good as well. I have 15 different recordings of the M9 and love them all for different reasons. Probably my all time favourite is the Walter from 1938.

Jim


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## Guest

I enjoy Rattle's recording with the Berlin Philharmonic and Bernstein's DG recording with Berlin as well. Tough to pick between them.


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## World Violist

Well I'm going to insert my standard Levine recommendation. If that's too expensive, then yes, go for Bernstein in either of his DG recordings; the Berlin Philharmonic one I've heard is legendary, and you can hear the still later Concertgebouw recording on Youtube, here (very beginning): 




The finale is very drawn-out, as is the Levine recording (both hover around a half-hour), so the recordings you've got are very, very different, but they're still really powerful readings.


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## Aramis

> recommend me a Mahler 9 please


Hi Jamie I think you should listen to Mahler 9. I recommend it to you.


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## Jaime77

oh you mean Mahler 9, Aramis? thanks I will check it out  

thanks for all your suggestions guys


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## trillian

argh, this post has been a while but I STRONGLY RECOMMEND BOULEZ!

although bernstein is my all time favourite mahler conductor


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## World Violist

trillian said:


> argh, this post has been a while but I STRONGLY RECOMMEND BOULEZ!
> 
> although bernstein is my all time favourite mahler conductor


I think Boulez is really great in the first movement but not so great at the others, particularly the last. He just takes it too quickly sometimes.

One recording I've really gotten to like is Michael Gielen's. It's the first recording I've ever heard that takes all the detailed markings in the score seriously. Like the glissandi; I've rarely even heard glissandi in Mahler, and in Gielen's recording they are definitely there. And he takes his time, especially in the final "Adagissimo"--pure bliss. Not to mention that his first movement is at least as good if not better than Boulez's.


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## Sid James

I've heard good things about the Karajan one done in the '80's (it got a Grammaphone award). I have yet to hear it, but a friend owns a copy, so I'll hear that at some stage...


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## drth15

*Mahler 9*

Most lucid, probing: Haitink/ Concertgebouw
Most involving: Bernstein/Concertgebouw
Most 'beautiful': Karajan/ Berlin Phil live 1983


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## elgar's ghost

In addition to some of the others quite rightly mentioned I'll nominate Bruno Maderna conducting the BBC SO in 1971 (I know - it's older than 30 years). A searing live performance from Royal Festival Hall with no hints of Darmstadt permafrost. Final movement lasts for 'only' 21 minutes but there is no sense of corner-cutting or overquick tempi - this is a performance where time is best left indeterminate.


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## tahnak

Undoubtedly Kirill Kondrashin with the Moscow Radio Large Orchestra


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## violadamore2

I think the lastest Lucerne Festival performance with Abbado, on August 20, 2010 is the non-plus-ultra.

It will surely be made available on DVD. I HOPE!!!


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## World Violist

If you're looking for something more recently recorded, though, Kondrashin and Maderna won't be what you're looking for; they both died well before digital recording. I think that if you're looking for an emotional performance it really doesn't get much more so than Bernstein's DG recording with the Concertgebouw. It's all-stops-out Mahler, as is Gielen, but Gielen isn't as emotional about it.


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## joen_cph

Favourites, each very different from each other, but all very committed, are
- Walter 1938
- Scherchen live 1950
- Kondrashin
- Tennstedt
- Karajan live 1983
Kondrashin offers a somewhat milder, more lyrical reading, but finely articulated; Walter and Scherchen are both red-hot with poor sound of course, the Scherchen being extemely fast and original in the 1st movement (21:08 !). Tennstedt and Karajan has a very big orchestral sound, Karajan´s with a sense of more intimate surroundings though. Am not very much into Karajan´s late digital recordings (on the contrary - they are often examples of poor early digital sound in the "metallic" sense, and often seem incoherent to me as regards the articulating) but his Mahler 9th has a sense of renewed exploration about it, many details and phrasings popping up and viewed as if in a new light. Some say the the earlier Karajan on DG is actually better, but I haven´t heard that LP for a long time. The 1983 one is a very dark and tragic rendering though, and I must say that I often pick up Kondrashin´s for a sort of relief or "comfort" in relation to the others; I´d recommend it if you like a not-too tragic Mahler 9th ... Found the Rattle/BPO somewhat dry and lacking a bit of forward-moving, the same applies to Klemperer, IMO. Haven´t really heard any of the Bernsteins, or the Levine or the Haitink, but they are all tempting to check out; Haitink could be a dark horse, his Bruckner VIII in his 1st digital recording being fantastic and certainly not subdued as he can sometimes be.

Perhaps it should be mentioned that when Kondrashin´s is described as milder and more lyrical, it is not due to a lack of aggressiveness or ebb-and-flow-effect in the playing. On the contrary he builds up a lot of contrasts and has a fluent tempo. Rather: that the articulation somehow has strong contrasts between the calmer episodes and the violent ones, the calmer ones being more "lyrical" or "beautiful" than in many other recordings. One could _perhaps_ say that Kondrashin plays the symphony more traditionally or conservatively as a romantic symphonic poem of dialectical opposites, giving sufficient space to both presented principles, rather than underlining any ambivalence as constant and parallel ... This is a personal opinion of course, some might disagree.


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## Petwhac

Haitink-Concerteouw get's my vote. I also have him doing No6 and No2 both superb.


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## christmashtn

Klemperer on EMI!!!


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## EqualMoneySystem

Levine/Philadelphia!!!

(ancerl, klemperer, barenboim, neumann, haitink/kco are also great ones)


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## powerbooks

M9 has become the new B9 in terms of popularity recent years, and many good recordings have come out since this century.

My current favorite is 1976 Giulini/Chicago version on DG:







While Gramophone does not like this much, I find it is "intensely beautiful".

Modern sound in mind, those 1980-90 versions, such as Karajan, Levine are all very good;
The digital sounds from Abbado, Boulez and MTT are exceptional. This DVD by Abbado is very moving!








I also recommended an introduction version by Zander from Telarc. It is a 3-CD in one package. Contain a fascinating analysis of this symphony by the maestro. Surprisingly good performance!


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## christmashtn

I concur. My favorite still remains the 1967 Klemperer on EMI, but interestingly, this Zander is what remains of Klemperer's Philharmonia and New Philharmonia.


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## StlukesguildOhio

My favorite probably remains Barbirolli's:










But I also like:



















Honestly, the 9th is far from being my favorite by Mahler. I don't dislike it... but there are other works I like far more.


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