Texasdave,
Interesting and informative review, thank you. The Ninth Mahler has brought out the best of many conductors. I can think of the live Karajan, Abbados most recent, Barbirolli (all three conductors with the Berlin Philharmonic), like-him-or-leave him (I like), Bernsteins recordings have to be dealt with, among many other moving and interesting ones in my library. By the way, Seiji Ozawa also chose the Mahler 9th for his farewell concerts with the Boston Symphony. (It would have been appropriate if James Levine had programmed the Resurrection Symphony for the start of his tenure there.)
I wish I could say Ill be ordering Chaillys 9th soon but I cant. I have owned his Mahler 2, 3 (on SACD) and No. 8 and was disappointed and bored with the performances. The sound didnt make me jump up and down either. If I am in the mood for good stick technique and dissection in Mahler, I can always reach for my Boulez, he has the sharpest blade of all (although the mans interpretations of Ravel and Debussynot to mention his own original musicare extremely interesting). Also would like to share your enthusiasm for Mr. Chaillys Concertgebouw stint, but except for the truly phenomenal, Varèse Complete Works, the Lyric Symphony of Zemlinsky and Messiaens Turangalila, I would describe most of his recordings with that great orchestraof the standard repertoireas possessing (in a quote from a review of another artist by the late N.Y. Times critic, Harold C. Schonberg) the diligence of a butler polishing the silver. But then, we all hear things diffirently and have different expectations.
His earlier recordings with the RSO Berlin of some major works by Zemlinsky (in particular, The Mermaid) and the Schönberg Gurrelieder, were revelatory performances and excellent recordings. There are also two recordings of some fringe Shostakovich (with Concertgebouw) which are also quite good. I have always felt Chaillys (and Ozawas) heart was firmly planted in contemporary music where I hear real energy and passion in his interpretations. I hope Decca will support more recordings by him of less well-known repertoire in the future.
Interesting and informative review, thank you. The Ninth Mahler has brought out the best of many conductors. I can think of the live Karajan, Abbados most recent, Barbirolli (all three conductors with the Berlin Philharmonic), like-him-or-leave him (I like), Bernsteins recordings have to be dealt with, among many other moving and interesting ones in my library. By the way, Seiji Ozawa also chose the Mahler 9th for his farewell concerts with the Boston Symphony. (It would have been appropriate if James Levine had programmed the Resurrection Symphony for the start of his tenure there.)
I wish I could say Ill be ordering Chaillys 9th soon but I cant. I have owned his Mahler 2, 3 (on SACD) and No. 8 and was disappointed and bored with the performances. The sound didnt make me jump up and down either. If I am in the mood for good stick technique and dissection in Mahler, I can always reach for my Boulez, he has the sharpest blade of all (although the mans interpretations of Ravel and Debussynot to mention his own original musicare extremely interesting). Also would like to share your enthusiasm for Mr. Chaillys Concertgebouw stint, but except for the truly phenomenal, Varèse Complete Works, the Lyric Symphony of Zemlinsky and Messiaens Turangalila, I would describe most of his recordings with that great orchestraof the standard repertoireas possessing (in a quote from a review of another artist by the late N.Y. Times critic, Harold C. Schonberg) the diligence of a butler polishing the silver. But then, we all hear things diffirently and have different expectations.
His earlier recordings with the RSO Berlin of some major works by Zemlinsky (in particular, The Mermaid) and the Schönberg Gurrelieder, were revelatory performances and excellent recordings. There are also two recordings of some fringe Shostakovich (with Concertgebouw) which are also quite good. I have always felt Chaillys (and Ozawas) heart was firmly planted in contemporary music where I hear real energy and passion in his interpretations. I hope Decca will support more recordings by him of less well-known repertoire in the future.