# We're Being Mahlered To Death !



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I love the music of Mahler , but unfortunately, his symphonies have been played to death in recent years,
particularly with te 150th anniversary of his birth in 2010 and the centennial of his death in 2011 .
Everywhere, orchestras have been playing Mahler,Mahler,Mahler . Orchestra musicians must be getting awfully tired of playing non stop, all you can eat Mahler festivals year in year out . 
Many years ago , orchestras rarely programmed these great symphonies , though Bruno Walter, Dimitri Mitropoulos,Otto Klemperer Willem Mengelberg , and Jascha Horenstein championed his music and kept the memory of the composer alive, and Leonard Bernstein began to champion his music in the 1960s and became the first conductor to record a cycle of all nine completed symphonies for what was then Columbia records .
Now it's become too easy to take these great works for granted , and there are countless recordings of the symphonies by virtually every and any conductor, with some exceptions of those who don't like his music .
There have been Mahler symphony cycles by Marice Abravanel, Claudio Abbado, Gary Bertini, Pierre Boulez, 
Riccardo Chailly., Edo De Waart , Michael Gielen,Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Eliahu Inbal, Rafael Kubelik , 
Vaclav Neumann, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, Sir Georg Solti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Yevgeny Svetlanov, 
Leif Segerstam, Klaus Tennstedt, Emil Tabakov, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Daviz Zinman , and individual recordings by Salonen, Neeme Jarvi, Norrington, Karajan, Barenboim, Dohnanyi, Colin Davis, Christoph 
Eschenbach , Blomstedt,Dudamel, and so many other ocmposers famous an dnot so famous .
And believe it or not, Philippe Herreweghe has begun an HIP cycle on PERIOD INSTRUMENTS ! Holy Cow !
Why dont more conductors give Mahler a bit of a rest and perform symphonies by Nikolai Myaskovsky,
Wilhelm Stenhammar, Franz Berwald, Enescu, Zdenek Fibich , Segei Taneyev, Arnold Bax, Paul Dukas,
Albert Roussel, Mily Balakirev, Glazunov, Zemlinsky, Havergal Brian , Kallinilov, Johan Svendsen ,
Martinu , and other composers ? Mahler's music is wonderful, but enough is enough !


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

You have, of course, the option not to buy. Personally speaking, I'm only discovering his music, so I suppose you could say I'm being Mahlered into life!


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## julianoq (Jan 29, 2013)

I also cannot say that I don't like this, since I am also exploring his symphonies - I am very familiar with the 2nd, 5th and 6th and just listened the 1st, 4th and 9th once. Also I never watched a concert of a Mahler symphony, so I hope this trend continues


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I'm a complete ignoramus & don't know/ can't remember hearing a single thing that Mahler wrote. I'm not proud of it, au contraire, but it does show that the flooding didn't actually reach many of us, so can't be all that dire!


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

superhorn said:


> I love the music of Mahler , but unfortunately, his symphonies have been played to death in recent years,
> particularly with te 150th anniversary of his birth in 2010 and the centennial of his death in 2011.
> Everywhere, orchestras have been playing Mahler, Mahler, Mahler. Orchestra musicians must be getting awfully tired of playing non stop all-you-can-eat Mahler festivals year in year out. Mahler's music is wonderful, but enough is enough !


I agree; how many Mahler cycles do you need, and who has the time to listen to these behemoths? There is plenty of other music to explore.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

This is good news for Mahler fans.  I personally would rather hear Mahler than Mozart or Beethoven in concert. I mean how many times are orchestras going to put out these boring programs with Beethoven's 9th? It's been done to death. Mahler's music, on the other hand, can be interpreted and performed in so many ways that it's sure to bring some much needed energy to the orchestras. Anyway, like I said, better Mahler being performed than the same old pap they normally churn out in the concert halls.

All of this said, I'm not a great fan of Mahler's music, but you do have the option, as we all do, of simply ignoring the concerts and the music. In regards, to Mahler being over-recorded, this could be said of Beethoven too. I mean how many cycles of Beethoven's symphonies do we need? So, in this light, we're both making the same argument, but, as I said, we do have the option of ignoring it.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

PLEASE let my local orchestras be flooded with Mahler. I'd love to see one of his works performed live!!!


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

I'm delighted to see people here getting to know and love Mahler's music, but the problem is that too many orchestras just keep playing his work sover an dover again. My beef is not with the music itself .


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

superhorn said:


> playing his work sover an dover .


Sounds almost Joycean!


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Ingenue said:


> I'm a complete ignoramus & don't know/ can't remember hearing a single thing that Mahler wrote. I'm not proud of it, au contraire, but it does show that the flooding didn't actually reach many of us, so can't be all that dire!


Good golly,Miss Molly!!! what a sheltered life !!


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Neo Romanza said:


> This is good news for Mahler fans.  I personally would rather hear Mahler than Mozart or Beethoven in concert. I mean how many times are orchestras going to put out these boring programs with Beethoven's 9th? It's been done to death. Mahler's music, on the other hand, can be interpreted and performed in so many ways that it's sure to bring some much needed energy to the orchestras. Anyway, like I said, better Mahler being performed than the same old pap they normally churn out in the concert halls.
> 
> All of this said, I'm not a great fan of Mahler's music, but you do have the option, as we all do, of simply ignoring the concerts and the music. In regards, to Mahler being over-recorded, this could be said of Beethoven too. I mean how many cycles of Beethoven's symphonies do we need? So, in this light, we're both making the same argument, but, as I said, we do have the option of ignoring it.


But Beethoven is far superior whether you like Mahler or not.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Hipster conductors overplayed Mahler before it was cool to overplay Mahler.


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

Can't say I'm being flooded with him where I am. My local symphony is currently going through the symphony cycle at the rate of one per year. I'd like to go see the 9th next spring.

On the other hand, they're doing their second cycle of Beethoven's piano concerti in as many years. I'd say that's overplaying them just a bit.

There's definitely a rather bewildering abundance of recordings of Mahler's cycle.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

moody said:


> But Beethoven is far superior whether you like Mahler or not.


Beside the point.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

moody said:


> But Beethoven is far superior whether you like Mahler or not.


I'm sorry Mr Moody, this is a factoid without any base in contemporary science! Ludwig might be superior in Your heart, in mine Gustav is the one that stirs emotions far beyond belief! 

/ptr


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

moody said:


> But Beethoven is far superior whether you like Mahler or not.


I respect Beethoven's standing as one of the greatest composers who lived, but Mahler is one of the finest symphonists himself. I don't consider the gap between them to be so large.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Sonata said:


> I respect Beethoven's standing as one of the greatest composers who lived, but Mahler is one of the finest symphonists himself. I don't consider the gap between them to be so large.


The big problem with Mahler outside the concert hall is the length of all his symphonies bar two,I have always found it difficult to concentrate. But at a concert--yes
I love his vocal music and listen often and Das Lied is a miracle.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Seems like some virus been going round for the last 10 years that have limited peoples attention span, I must be resistant cuz I often feel that Mahler symphonies are a bit on the short side! 

/ptr


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

moody said:


> The big problem with Mahler outside the concert hall is the length of all his symphonies bar two,I have always found it difficult to concentrate. But at a concert--yes
> I love his vocal music and listen often and Das Lied is a miracle.


To be honest, before getting to read this forum a lot, I would have never thought classical fans ever had a problem with concentration, at least when it comes to classical music.


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## handlebar (Mar 19, 2009)

One can never have enough Mahler! Just don't listen to it all the time. So much music,so many others.
I for one am glad this amount is out there as it gives us Mahlerians a chance to discover new sounds. 
Back when I first discovered him in the early 80's, the boom was still years away. Glad it happened!!!


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## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

Back in the early '60s, Leinsdorf/Boston issued one of the then few recordings of Mahler's Fifth, and I remember the liner note, by Jack Diether, concluded with something close to: "Mahler's Fifth Symphony is one of the Seven Wonders of the Symphonic World, and there are professional musicians today who have led full and active lives and never heard a note of it." And that, at the time, was absolutely true.


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## KRoad (Jun 1, 2012)

Any comments on Rattle's cycle on EMI? I have Bernstein's NYPO sixties re-mastered cycle and Sinopoli's on DG. I'm tempted...


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

moody said:


> The big problem with Mahler outside the concert hall is the length of all his symphonies bar two,I have always found it difficult to concentrate. But at a concert--yes
> I love his vocal music and listen often and Das Lied is a miracle.


But if you're sitting at home listening to say Mahler's 9th, you have the leisure to take a break whenever you want and give your mind and ears a rest. I don't think the length of Mahler's music is a problem and this criticism seems rather unfair, especially nowadays when someone should be thankful that something of such a vast universe had been composed. Contemporary music owes Mahler much more than you think and his time in sun has finally come. I say this is the best thing for his music.


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

Neo Romanza said:


> Contemporary music owes Mahler much more than you think and his time in sun has finally come.


Really, in what way? You mean as a conductor and promoter of new music, or modern composers following his musical style. Is there really a school of neo-Mahlarian composers about now?


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

quack said:


> Really, in what way? You mean as a conductor and promoter of new music, or modern composers following his musical style. Is there really a school of neo-Mahlarian composers about now?


Yes, conductors but I would also say modern composers since his music is seen as a link between Romanticism and Modernism. There have been several composers after Mahler that have carried the torch: Berg and Shostakovich being two prime examples.


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## Cheyenne (Aug 6, 2012)

Mahler's symphonies are such miracles that I treat them as such; never have I wasted a note of Mahler... I have never listened to Mahler with anyone else near because I'm not very comfortable with it: he could probably make me cry within 3 minutes. I haven't even heard his third or sixth symphony yet, that's how careful I am with approaching them.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Very well put Cheyenne


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

I just hope Superhorn is around in 43 years for Mozart's 300th...


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

superhorn said:


> I love the music of Mahler , but unfortunately, his symphonies have been played to death in recent years,
> particularly with te 150th anniversary of his birth in 2010 and the centennial of his death in 2011 .
> Why dont more conductors give Mahler a bit of a rest and perform symphonies by Nikolai Myaskovsky,
> Wilhelm Stenhammar, Franz Berwald, Enescu, Zdenek Fibich , Segei Taneyev, Arnold Bax, Paul Dukas,
> ...


Actually, I've thought it _wonderful _that Mahler is overplayed. Once we engorge the public until they hate it, it will be a perfect way to "take back" the masses for Russian music! Yes, Glazunov's day, and a day for all Russian music_ will come,_ and it will be a glorious day! Already Glazunov's name is on the move, particularly performances of his ballets and symphonies which weren't done as much as his concertos.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I hadn't noticed being Mahlered to death. Whenever I hear Mahler, I'm thrilled so maybe I wouldn't notice an excess of Mahler. I guess the real issue is whether the number of Mahler performances or CDs is in some way reducing access to other "comparable" composers. Obviously any performance of one composer could be substituted with a work by another so in that sense it's a zero sum game. I think that's true to some extent of all "major" composers. Ensembles play Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, etc... much more than others. 

With CDs I don't think it matters since there is an amazing variety of music available on CD. In live performances it probably matters more to those who have heard major works many times. I have not so I always think it's a joy to hear Mozart 41, Brahms 4, Beethoven piano concertos, and any Mahler work.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ptr said:


> I'm sorry Mr Moody, this is a factoid without any base in contemporary science! Ludwig might be superior in Your heart, in mine Gustav is the one that stirs emotions far beyond belief!
> 
> /ptr


Of course that's true but I think that my statement is probably also true. Just look at the variety in Beethoven across the board I think it's greater than Mahler.
But then I might say that Salieri stirs my emotions more than both,so where's the science in that--in fact where's the science in any emotion.
But one fact is indisputable ---Beethoven's sales are by far the greater in the world of classic music.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Neo Romanza said:


> But if you're sitting at home listening to say Mahler's 9th, you have the leisure to take a break whenever you want and give your mind and ears a rest. I don't think the length of Mahler's music is a problem and this criticism seems rather unfair, especially nowadays when someone should be thankful that something of such a vast universe had been composed. Contemporary music owes Mahler much more than you think and his time in sun has finally come. I say this is the best thing for his music.


Oh,his time in the sun has been here for ages,since the 60's I would think.
As for the length, that is the opinion of many but means nothing to others I'm sure. But it is mentioned often, twice at least in this thread,but understand that I have a lot of Mahler so there is no anti-sentiments in me towards him.
If you want to consider Mahler the greater composer that's your prerogative.


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## Feathers (Feb 18, 2013)

Well it's your choice whether to listen to all those recordings/concerts or not. If I ever feel like I'm close to being Mahlered to death (which I've never felt yet and hopefully won't in the future), then I'd just take a break from him and stop getting all those recordings and going to all those concerts. It's not like Mahler is usually used as elevator music or ringtones or played in public places, so nobody is going to force Mahler on you. It's all up to you to decide how much of his music you want to listen to so you don't get Mahlered to death.

By the way, am I the only one who can't stop laughing at "Mahler" being used as a verb? :lol:


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

How can we be Mahlered to death? We've already been Mozarted to death, and the survivors were duly Beethovened, Bached, Brahmsed, Schuberted, Verdied, Wagnered and Chopined. At this point it's more accurate to say Mahler is going around a nuclear impact site and punching what remains of the skeletons


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Feathers said:


> By the way, am I the only one who can't stop laughing at "Mahler" being used as a verb? :lol:


Yes, the puns are going to be ground up and then painted over.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

moody said:


> Of course that's true but I think that my statement is probably also true. Just look at the variety in Beethoven across the board I think it's greater than Mahler.
> But then I might say that Salieri stirs my emotions more than both,so where's the science in that--in fact where's the science in any emotion.
> But one fact is indisputable ---Beethoven's sales are by far the greater in the world of classic music.


We can debate the variety issue, and I would disagree forcefully, but to what use! And yes Sir, if sales figures had any bearing on the quality of the product, you would of course be right in your last point and the world should be run by IKEA not politicians! Oh, how much better the world would be if run by a Swedish corporation!
BTW; I admire Your emotional connection with Salieri, for me his music is a prime example of detached kapellmeistermusik of the classicist era, how amazingly different music can strike us! 

/ptr


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

ptr said:


> We can debate the variety issue, and I would disagree forcefully, but to what use! And yes Sir, if sales figures had any bearing on the quality of the product, you would of course be right in your last point and the world should be run by IKEA not politicians! Oh, how much better the world would be if run by a Swedish corporation!
> BTW; I admire Your emotional connection with Salieri, for me his music is a prime example of detached kapellmeistermusik of the classicist era, how amazingly different music can strike us!
> 
> /ptr


No,No,No, I did not say what you seem to think I said. I said that I MIGHT SAY THAT SALIERI STIRS MY EMOTIONS---that was to prove that neither your emotions nor mine mean anything at all in a scale of excellence.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

moody said:


> Good golly,Miss Molly!!! what a sheltered life !!


I beg your pardon... Miss Molly is HIGHLY selective.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

I hate birthday / death anniversary promotions -- they fill programs and airwaves to overflowing, the audience gets benumbed by great music instead of catching it in a context where it would invigorate them.

I've forgotten which conductor it was who suggested a several year hiatus from playing any Mozart in concert, just after such an anniversary glut. Give everyone a break, let them feel an appetite for it again.

The REASON that several works for full orchestra have many multiple performances in the recordings catalogue is they are virtuoso show-off the full orchestra pieces.

Stravinsky ~ Le Sacre du Printemps
Ravel ~ Bolero, Daphnis et Chloe, complete and / or Suites I & II
Bartok ~ Concerto for Orchestra
Moussorgsky ~ (usually the Ravel orchestration) Pictures at an Exhibition
A handful of Mahler Symphonies
A handful of Bruckner Symhonies

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Each recording label / band competing for a slice of the populist consumer revenue pie.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

PetrB said:


> I hate birthday / death anniversary promotions -- they fill programs and airwaves to overflowing, the audience gets benumbed by great music instead of catching it in a context where it would invigorate them.


I think 200th is a rather bid deal though. I'm lucky to be alive to see it. I use to be a Wagner fanatic, but cooled off. At least I have a chance to warm up to him again. I'll be seeing my first full Wagner opera production tomorrow, so that's a new experience of his music.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Huilunsoittaja said:


> I think 200th is a rather bid deal though. I'm lucky to be alive to see it. I use to be a Wagner fanatic, but cooled off. At least I have a chance to warm up to him again. I'll be seeing my first full Wagner opera production tomorrow, so that's a new experience of his music.


You're a sucker for marketing buzz, then.

What, pray tell, adds any extra buzz to a Mahler piece, or the songs, because they are played 199 years after his birth or 201 years after his birth or eX eX eX years after his death? (cannot _believe_ the TC software censors the letter X when typed three times in a row!)

What the hell do birthdays have to do with it all anyway?

A more actual "Birthday" might be the anniversary of when a work was completed or premiered.

Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps is 100 years old this year. I suppose there will be dozens and dozens of obligatory moves to put it on the program while making a PR buzz about it. That, at least would be a hair more interesting, informing the audience that particular piece is now 100 years old, and hearing it with that little factoid as perspective.

*Maybe the first hundredth Mahler anniversary should really be 100 years after his works began to be recirculated after the decades long of their having been neglected, putting that anniversary more toward the mid 21st century *


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Mahler Fourth*

I actually had the opportunity to perform one of Mahler's symphonies, the _Fourth_. I played the contrabassoon part. It was an amazing experience. From a musicians point of view, Mahler was a great orchestrator. His scoring was so sparse it was like playing chamber music. Very rarely were all the musicians in the orchestra were playing at the same time. Most of the music was episodes that were played by small groups of musicians.

As far as live performances, I have heard every Mahler symphony except the _Seventh_.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Crudblud said:


> How can we be Mahlered to death? We've already been Mozarted to death, and the survivors were duly Beethovened, Bached, Brahmsed, Schuberted, Verdied, Wagnered and Chopined. At this point it's more accurate to say Mahler is going around a nuclear impact site and punching what remains of the skeletons


I agree. I don't see what the big deal is with more and more orchestras performing Mahler. Apparently, some people just can't stand seeing a late-Romantic get any kind of attention.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Dudamel and the LAPO did *two* complete Mahler cycles last year. At least they were on different continents!


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Neo Romanza said:


> I agree. I don't see what the big deal is with more and more orchestras performing Mahler. Apparently, some people just can't stand seeing a late-Romantic get any kind of attention.


It is not that at all -- it is the crazy imbalance of so much of one composer in a season that it gets, actually, a bit dulling.

It also points out, ironically, how too infrequently said featured composer is otherwise performed.

The feast - famine phenomena of it is seriously imbalanced.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

PetrB said:


> I beg your pardon... Miss Molly is HIGHLY selective.


I imagine you knew her more intimately than me.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

moody said:


> I imagine you new her more intimately than me.


Thanks for your posts, PetrB & Moody. Point of information - the only man I know intimately is Taggart!* 

* (What I could have said to Moody: Sir, you impugn my honour. My husband's second will be calling on you tomorrow. And as you must know, my husband is the best swordsman in all England.  )

Have a nice day, guys!  I'm off to practise The Humours of Ballyloughlin.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

PS: Which of Mahler's works is the best for an ignoramus to start on?

I do not want to derail this very interesting thread, so I have just started a new thread and would be very pleased to hear from Mahlerian & anyone else out there Who Knows?* 

* An Arabic Rhyme:
He who knows, and knows he knows - he is a wise man; seek him.
He who knows, and knows not he knows - he is asleep; wake him.
He who knows not, and knows he knows not - he is a child; teach him.
But he who knows not, and knows not he knows not - he is a fool; shun him.

I come in at number 3 - I hope!


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## Chrythes (Oct 13, 2011)

The last time Mahler was played here was in fall, and I managed to miss it. Since then the only performance I was waiting for was something by Mahler, but it seems it won't be fulfilled. 
So don't quibble you americacentric!


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Ingenue said:


> PS: Which of Mahler's works is the best for an ignoramus to start on?
> 
> I do not want to derail this very interesting thread, so I have just started a new thread and would be very pleased to hear from Mahlerian & anyone else out there Who Knows?*
> 
> ...


Das Lied von der Erde and Symphony No.1.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*Zander*



Ingenue said:


> PS: Which of Mahler's works is the best for an ignoramus to start on?
> 
> I do not want to derail this very interesting thread, so I have just started a new thread and would be very pleased to hear from Mahlerian & anyone else out there Who Knows?*
> 
> ...


I normally do not recommend recordings because with exception of a few band works 99% of the members know more than I do.

There is one series of recording that may be good for the Mahler novice. Benjamin Zander has recorded most of the Mahler Symphonies on Telarc. With each set there is a separate CD which has a discussion about the work a la Bernstein. I have had friends who are not musicians who have listen to them and found them very enlightening. There are probably better performances but those lecture CD's are great.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

BTW, I'd love to be Mahlered to death, it is the only decent way to be killed! 

/ptr


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Ingenue said:


> Thanks for your posts, PetrB & Moody. Point of information - the only man I know intimately is Taggart!*
> 
> * (What I could have said to Moody: Sir, you impugn my honour. My husband's second will be calling on you tomorrow. And as you must know, my husband is the best swordsman in all England.  )
> 
> Have a nice day, guys!  I'm off to practise The Humours of Ballyloughlin.


I was actually addressing PetrB.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

PetrB said:


> You're a sucker for marketing buzz, then.
> 
> What the hell do birthdays have to do with it all anyway?


Well, Glazunov's birthday isn't marketed around, that I can say for sure.  Last August 10, I think I listened to over 4 hours of his music, and a few hours more of other Russians. That was a stupendous day, I don't think I can top that this August.

Composers are people, and we celebrate _people _too, besides music. I don't mean to _worship _anyone, I think it's simply proper and respectful, since I truly admire those composers that I feel closest connection too. Sure, we can celebrate anyone any day of the year, but I'm soft on tradition. 

Parsifal is brilliant, btw. The DVD that my mom and I watched was an excellent recording.


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## FLighT (Mar 7, 2013)

Posted by ptr:

"BTW, I'd love to be Mahlered to death, it is the only decent way to be killed!"


:lol: I'm afraid I have to agree.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

arpeggio said:


> I
> There is one series of recording that may be good for the Mahler novice. Benjamin Zander has recorded most of the Mahler Symphonies on Telarc. With each set there is a separate CD which has a discussion about the work a la Bernstein. I have had friends who are not musicians who have listen to them and found them very enlightening. There are probably better performances but those lecture CD's are great.


Zander was my introduction to Mahler. The lectures are well done and enthusiastically presented. Personally, I like his performances also.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I must confess that Mahler is not one composer I am very fond of. A lot of straining and heaving with very little behind it in my opinion. One or two good slow movements though. But mainly not for me. I watched the performance of the resurrection symphony from the Proms and turned it off as I was bored stiff with it. Not my cup of tea.


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

*I really dislike so and so*

I really do not get the I dislike so and so posts anymore.

I dislike Verdi. There is no doubt in my mind that if I started complaining about Verdi the reaction around here would be, "Oh no! There goes arpeggio complaining about Verdi again. Man give it a break. Arpeggio, don't go away mad, just...go away."


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## Wordwreck (May 23, 2013)

quack said:


> Really, in what way? You mean as a conductor and promoter of new music, or modern composers following his musical style. Is there really a school of neo-Mahlarian composers about now?


Film composer John Williams owes much of his repertoire to Mahler. Fragments of themes from Always, E.T., Return of The Jedi, Schindler's List, Empire of The Sun and more are waiting to be found in Mahler's symphonies. In some instances it's jarring.

I'm new here, so I don't know yet if mentioning film composers in a classical forum will make me liable for rebuke, but we are talking about a prolific and incredibly influential artist here, and his body of work is so heavily influenced by Mahler that it takes my breath away (or it could be the Basil Hayden's).


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

moody said:


> The big problem with Mahler outside the concert hall is the length of all his symphonies bar two,I have always found it difficult to concentrate. But at a concert--yes
> I love his vocal music and listen often and Das Lied is a miracle.


This perplexes me. I've always found it easier to concentrate at home.


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## handlebar (Mar 19, 2009)

FLighT said:


> Posted by ptr:
> 
> "BTW, I'd love to be Mahlered to death, it is the only decent way to be killed!"
> 
> :lol: I'm afraid I have to agree.


Count me in on this too!! I have requested that Mahler be played at my funeral. What better way for a send off??


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

handlebar said:


> Count me in on this too!! I have requested that Mahler be played at my funeral. What better way for a send off??


Yep, that's my way as well; Kindertotenlieder for me, clearly specified in the will, have even put away "dough" for the rental of a fine Contralto and an organist!

/ptr


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## handlebar (Mar 19, 2009)

ptr said:


> Yep, that's my way as well; Kindertotenlieder for me, clearly specified in the will, have even put away "dough" for the rental of a fine Contralto and an organist!
> 
> /ptr


Delightful!!!! Usually I don't go to them but those are funerals I WILL attend!!!


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## FLighT (Mar 7, 2013)

Wordwreck said:


> Film composer John Williams owes much of his repertoire to Mahler. Fragments of themes from Always, E.T., Return of The Jedi, Schindler's List, Empire of The Sun and more are waiting to be found in Mahler's symphonies. In some instances it's jarring.
> 
> I'm new here, so I don't know yet if mentioning film composers in a classical forum will make me liable for rebuke, but we are talking about a prolific and incredibly influential artist here, and his body of work is so heavily influenced by Mahler that it takes my breath away (or it could be the Basil Hayden's).


New or Senior member, makes no difference, all are eligible for rebuke and equals with regard to tongue lashings.

Regarding film scores, I have quite a few in my music library and am not ashamed to listen to them with the windows open.


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## FLighT (Mar 7, 2013)

arpeggio said:


> I really do not get the I dislike so and so posts anymore.
> 
> I dislike Verdi. There is no doubt in my mind that if I started complaining about Verdi the reaction around here would be, "Oh no! There goes arpeggio complaining about Verdi again. Man give it a break. Arpeggio, don't go away mad, just...go away."


I don't myself "hate" any composer's work. Some I don't get, some don't affect or move me, some can't hold my interest, they don't speak to me, so I tend not to revisit them. Hate takes energy, why waste it. I expend it on music I connect to.

Verdi is not one of the latter. I've never connected with his operas, and I've tried. I'd rather listen to Puccini, and so I do.

That being said, there have been many instances over the course of my listening life where works I didn't "get" or care for in my youth, at some point in the decades that followed, suddenly connected to me. And, some works I thought were masterpieces when I was young I listen to now and chuckle to myself, how could I have been so naïve, so I re-classify it from masterpiece to guilty pleasure.

So, I try and keep an open ear with most music.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

We're Being Mauled To Death!

Mahler did forewarn, "My time will come," but I'll blame it on global warming.


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## chalkpie (Oct 5, 2011)

I *****************LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE********************** Mahler, and I am super-guilty of owning WAY too many recordings and sets of his "tunes", but I do agree with the OP, the recordings have gotten a bit out-of-control and its time to give other geniuses their due. As for live gigs, I would rather see a Mahler symph anyday over a crappy blues bar band.


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