# The New Alan Gilbert Mahler 9th on Bis: Any opinions?



## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

The new Bis recording of Mahler's 9th Symphony directed by Alan Gilbert with the Stockholm Philharmonic is getting rave reviews such as Grammophone's 10/10 rating. 

Has anyone here heard it yet. Any opinions?


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

On further investigation, I see this recording is not actually all that new being as it's from 2009. Still I haven't seen any comments about it here in the Mahler threads.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Listener reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Sympho...qid=1355546421&sr=1-1&keywords=mahler+gilbert


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

Ok, I just scanned through Tony Duggan's MusicWeb review of this and he rejects it as too soft and pretty though recorded in superb sound. 

So, I've lost all interest in it and can lay this whole inquiry to rest. Kill this thread.


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

Andolink - Tony Duggan may be an authority on Mahler (and I like his review style) but his opinions aren't proclamations set in stone and I wouldn't expect him to have them interpreted as such. If the Gilbert recording initially intrigued you then investigate it.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

elgars ghost said:


> Andolink - Tony Duggan may be an authority on Mahler (and I like his review style) but his opinions aren't proclamations set in stone and I wouldn't expect him to have them interpreted as such. If the Gilbert recording initially intrigued you then investigate it.


It's not that Tony Duggan's word is law to me, it's that the particular problems he has with the Gilbert interpretation are exactly what I've learned are the same problems I have with certain conductors of Mahler's symphonies and I've also been steered by Duggan to Mahler interpretations that get it just right for my tastes such as the Thomas Sanderling Mahler 6th.


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

Andolink said:


> It's not that Tony Duggan's word is law to me, it's that the particular problems he has with the Gilbert interpretation are exactly what I've learned are the same problems I have with certain conductors of Mahler's symphonies and I've also been steered by Duggan to Mahler interpretations that get it just right for my tastes such as the Thomas Sanderling Mahler 6th.


Fair dos - if you wouldn't mind, I'd be interested to see you list the 9ths you favour.


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

elgars ghost said:


> Fair dos - if you wouldn't mind, I'd be interested to see you list the 9ths you favour.


I've yet to hear what I would call a definitive version of the 9th which is why I've been on the lookout for highly regarded ones but the Rattle Berlin Phil. EMI recording is extremely good. Do you prefer one to all others you've heard?


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

I can't say I have an overall favourite but I would mention Bruno Maderna's BBC recording because it differs in texture from the others I have - it's live, visceral and a bit of a white-knuckle ride. It is occasionally a little rough around the edges and there are a couple of times when you fear it might come unglued but it can't be denied that the excitement's there and I think BM does a good job closing the work out. Others I like include Barbirolli (EMI), Klemperer (EMI) and Kubelik (DG).


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## johnwesleybarker (Mar 4, 2013)

*A recording is really very different to any other I have heard.*

Sign of my age perhaps, just turned 67, and listening to every *Mahler 9th Symphony* I can access. Via *TIDAL HiFi* and buying Compact Discs and Super Audio Compact Discs. It's quite a task as the emotional impact of this work is so deep to me that one has to space out each listening by a few weeks. 
This afternoon, the Alan Gilbert and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra Mahler 9 on TIDAL.



> 9 years ago Andolink asked here "Has anyone here heard it yet. Any opinions?"


And so from a search for reviews I found this Forum and Thread after reading very many other reviews, which I must say are quite varied.
This recording is really very different to any other I have heard in so many ways and so it intrigues me. There's nothing obvious about the interpretation and the score is read very well. The subtle tempo changes and grades of expression are well made and dynamically there's a freshness and openness to the playing which I find quite unusual. The tempo of the opening is a little faster than those performances which focus on a somewhat biographical 'heart-beat' and so the forward movement is more apparent and the polyphony in the climaxes really quite stirring, I hasten to add, but not rushed. The clarity of the lines is preserved, no notes are 'thrown away'.

_And so here I will cut short my Review until another time when I can do a full one. I await responses here to encourage me to carry on._


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

johnwesleybarker said:


> Sign of my age perhaps, just turned 67, and listening to every *Mahler 9th Symphony* I can access. Via *TIDAL HiFi* and buying Compact Discs and Super Audio Compact Discs. It's quite a task as the emotional impact of this work is so deep to me that one has to space out each listening by a few weeks.
> This afternoon, the Alan Gilbert and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra Mahler 9 on TIDAL.
> 
> And so from a search for reviews I found this Forum and Thread after reading very many other reviews, which I must say are quite varied.
> ...


There are already a number of posts and threads on M9....I reviewed a group of well-known ones not so long ago....

https://www.talkclassical.com/59356-mahler-symphony-no-9-a-11.html#post1987725

my picks for the top ones:
Giulini/CSO
Walter/ColSO
Boulez/CSO


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