Repertoire: The BEST Mahler Second Symphony "Resurrection"

I only discovered these YouTube talks by you recently and have been watching a lot of them lately. Of course, no two persons' musical tastes are identical, and I do not agree with you on everything, but I have found that I agree with you on A LOT! I think your musical training, your experience in orchestral performances, your having studied the scores, and your extensive knowledge of music history, conductors, and recordings all combine to make your reviews more informative and authoritative than most. Thanks for making your reviews and comparisons of recordings available for all of us to watch. They have helped me tremendously in discovering recordings I did not previously know about and refining my CD collection.

You have raised my tam-tam awareness 1000%.

The 2nd is definitely in the top 5 symphonies of all time! I was reared on Bernstein's 70's recording and it resounds in my heart.

My first encounter with any Mahler was back in the late 60's in college. I had purchased a recording of THE NINTH! at a department store and it was scratched. When I took it back, the clerk, who was very knowledgeable, did not have a replacement, but suggested another symphony with a choral ending, the Mahler 2nd. The title "Resurrection" intrigued me, so I took it home and fell in love. It was, by the way, the Bernstein/NY Phil. LP.

I was lucky enough to experience a wonderful live performance by Tennstedt at the Festival Hall in London. Possibly the most moving performance I've ever heard of ANYthing!

Two offbeat Mahler 2s must be mentioned: Klemperer's live Bavarian Radio recording (1965) - with the divine vocal pairing of Heather Harper & Janet Baker - is smashing in so many ways. (I prefer it to his studio effort.) Also, Abravanel did not have a virtuoso orchestra under him in Salt Lake City, but he conducts the piece straight and true - and then hits you over the head with the marvelous Tabernacle acoustics, its legendary choir, and, in the roaring finale, Beverly Sills (before international fame) soaring thrillingly above them all like a triumphant angel. Its entirety is far from perfect, but the climax is breathtaking. (And the Dolby sound is very very good.) Otherwise, it's Walter all the way for me. I enjoy your videos enormously. I do not agree with all your choices, but as a performer, music professor, and published reviewer I love a good, intelligent scrap over comparing "favored" recordings. Your videos are addictive. Thanks!

Thanks for the recommendations. My favorite Mahler 2nd for years were Walter and Kelmperer's. Then I heard Scherchen, the ultimate act of musical perversion, and I fell in love with it. And then the Stokowski (live BBC, 1963), came out, and my journey with the piece was over.

Back at the end of the last century, I was working for a tiny (just 4 of us) independent producing, recording, and editing/post-production studio in west London. One of my first editing jobs was Tennstedt's Mahler 8 with the LPO, how fabulous was that! Soon after that was Kaplan's Mahler 2... I assumed, over all these years (much though I thought it was fabulous!) that it was a dilettante's version, what with him buying Mahler's original score and baton, and being taught to conduct for this recording. I'm glad to see some comments here giving it credence. I didn't really know the music before I had to edit it, and boy, do you really learn a score, having to listen to it over and over over and over over and over! Rattle, who I haven't always liked, gave an absolutely brilliant, very moving performance of the 2nd a few days ago at the Proms, with the LSO - he used no score (in the interview before the performance, he said that he had conducted it over a 100 times, the first time as a 16-year old!) and the chorus sang it from memory too. An overwhelming Finale, I urge you to try and see the recording, it's available on the BBC iPlayer.

Thank you for this channel! Just found it, and was positively stunned by the pertinence, friendliness and knowledge of your commentaries. Thank you so much, and all the best to you!

Loved this discussion! For me, Tennstedt and the live recording with the London Philharmonic thrills and excites every time I listen to it. It is described as a very special recording and I am glad you agree, Dave!

I saw this in Cleveland a couple years ago. I loved hearing it live.

You did it again. Delighted to see the Blomstedt recording which I love.

Thank you, Dave! As always I really enjoy your insight in a passionate way.

Blomstedt has been my #1 since it came out, but there's one that I will always have a fond affection for: Scherchen on Westminster.

The Blomstedt/SFS record has always been a favorite of mine, nice to see it getting some love. The playing is perfect, the interpretation is balanced, and the sound quality is as clear as a bell. I think it also has the best recorded-quality of the off stage brass. I also put Bernstein's DG, and, the not as popular of a choice of Boulez with Vienna at the top of the list. Another great video, Dave!

Thanks for another great video Dave! 20 years ago I bought the first Kaplan recording with the LSO but since buying Mehta, Tennstedt, Solti and Klemperer, I haven't listened to it for a long time. Gave it another go this week and found it excellent! Wonderful sound and a really vibrant performance, exciting and lovely detail. Kaplan's devotion to the work shines through.

53 Years ago today (3/23/68) I bought my first Mahler recordings at Chicago's legendary Rose Records.. #3 (Bernstein's 1st) and the Klemperer "Resurrection" with the Philharmonia, my "imprinted" version; I still love it, despite its slap-dash 1st movement, numerous wrong notes, etc...it still has a unique magic all its own (PLUS a great chorus and a very creepy, ominous sounding off-stage band in the Finale..AND the Philharmonia's GREAT large Tam-Tam, which was heard to much greater effect in Klemperer's concert performance with the same forces..but Janet Baker's mezzo.. from, I think, 1963). My hands-down best Mahler 2 is (here it comes--) Maazel/Vienna, an amazingly VIVID, idiomatic performance that makes the work sound totally NEW..a revelation! Everything is defined, weighted, nuanced, and sustained with such control, authority and imagination, that everything LEAPS off the page from beginning to end (try the Scherzo). AND..lest you think this is just Maazel's idiosyncratic conducting (his reputation as a pompous, ego-maniac, alas, will forever doom his Mahler cycle to oblivion), it's not. Every time you say "Hey, he's really exaggerating that!", you look at the score..and THERE IT IS, in Mahler's own notation. The sound spectrum in the Finale is a tad diffuse due, I imagine, to the increased performing forces, but overall, a serious admirer of this work should not be without Maazel's performance. There are so many others to choose from... Gilbert Kaplan's ("Mr. Mahler 2") 1st recording is darn' good and Lenny's two NY versions are great. (I still recall Stereo Review's rave review of Abravanel's "Apocalyptic" recording with Utah, but....not really). Dave, I'm also a percussionist and proud owner of several Tam-Tams, including a five-footer..but it's Taiwanese, and very brassy in sound (which I favor over the color-less Wuhan variety that everybody now uses). I've used it in two performances of Mahler 2, plus Mahler 8th and Respighi's "Church Windows", when it stole the show. And yes, I've done the "mad dash" off-stage in Mahler 2 on both occasions, once to play triangle, the other (at Orchestra Hall in Chicago) to play cymb/Bd (also Mahler 3- 1st Mvt military drums). In each case, rushing back on JUST IN TIME to beat the hell out of the big Tam-Tam made it especially thrilling. LR

I'm so glad you begin with Walter and Klemperer. Those are two of my favorite recordings. I have found that some folks underappreciate the elegance/intensity/mystery of the Walter, in particular.

WOW WOW WOW. I just listened to the Ozawa recording you recommend in this video. What an exhilarating performance. And how wonderful to hear a true contralto in the Urlicht. It's just like you said - HOT STUFF!!

So nice to see Yoel Levi, Leonard Slatkin and Herbert Blomstedt get their due. You're right too that Zubin Mehta really had a way with the M2 and the VPO Decca recording is the one I always recommend to anybody who is curious about Mahler. I do find Berstein's DG recording a bit labored in the finale, but will chase down the Tennstedt and Fischer based on your recommendations. Really enjoying your chats--they're informed and fun.