Mahler - Complete Symphonies

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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0094634023825 Format: Box set Label: EMI Classics Manufacturer: EMI Classics Number Of Discs: 11 Publisher: EMI Classics Release Date: 2006-04-03 Running Time: 785 Studio: EMI Classics
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: A definite set Comment: I bought this set on the strength of several glowing reviews on Amazon (British and American) and on ClassicsToday, although I already have the complete cycle several times over: by various conductors and orchestras (Haitink, Chailly, Solti, Sieghart, Bernstein, Rattle, Haenchen, Neumann, Inbal etc.) and the box sets by Edo de Waart on RCA/Cobra (good, but now out of print; if it's available it's rediculously over priced), Emil Tabakov on Cappricio (not too great: its main attraction being the budget price) and Michael Gielen on Hänssler (outstanding modernist view). I relish this set because of the wonderfully warm sound quality (listen to those very deep basses in the "Alles Vergängliche" chorus at the end of the 8th symphony), the non-prima donna singing of most vocal soloists, the generally faster pacing (as opposed to some of Haitink's snail like tempos; exept in the ninth, where Bertini's finale is very much slower than most, but to great effect), the careful attention to detail and the generally unsentimental interpretation. The booklet comes with complete texts and full details about recording dates and locations. One minor point of criticism is that in order to cram all the music onto just eleven cd's, the various symphonies are sometimes strangely distributed over two discs and the chronology is interrupted. But musically a very worth while asset. If you're looking for a complete Mahler set, this one should certainly deserve your consideration (with Gielen's a serious competitor; better: get them both). Customer Rating: Summary: An excellent bargain set Comment: No complete set can deliver everything but at this price it must surely be worth thinking of a set that does deliver a couple of wonderful and very many very good performances. So many great conductors seem to feel that Mahler needs exaggeration to work properly. The resulting performances present Mahler as a tortured genius but often fail to come off. You hear a great performance and then go on to hear the same conductor's version of another symphony and it somehow disappoints. So you search again for a version of that symphony that satisfies. Bertini seems content to present Mahler as a great composer in the great tradition and his success rate in this set is remarkable. Bertini's First is possibly my favourite version of a symphony I had almost given up on. I often find other versions overly episodic and lacking in flow but Bertini's flowing and ravishing account is a revelation. With the others I do already have a favourite performance and Bertini doesn't displace these. But my search for all these favourites took time and a lot of trial and error. Only No 6 somehow fails to generate the power that is in the work. Aside from this all the performances here are very satisfactory ... and this is in itself something of a miracle. Customer Rating: Summary: A different Mahler? Comment: Having been brought up in the "boom-crash" school of Mahler,I approached Bertini's set with some trepidation.What a wonderful surprise!Bertini's interpretation has been described as "Mediterranean",reflecting,I suppose,a brighter sunnier Mahler.This is correct.It is a gentler radiant sound with moderate tempi and delicately nuanced.The No 4 is the best I've heard.No hysteria!Yet drama is there when you need it. Unlike another reviewer in another place I do not believe that you need to live in a detached house to enjoy Mahler's music. So much that is gossamer fine is lost in the gigantic cescendi.this is Mahler with compassion. Customer Rating: Summary: Bargain Mahler. Comment: Anybody looking for a budget edition of Mahler symphonies need look no further than this collection recorded between 1984 and 1991 by Gary Bertini and his Kolner Run funk - Sinfonieorchester. The set contains symphonies 1 - 9 plus the adagio from the unfinished tenth and also Das Lied von der Erde. Most are studio recordings, but three were recorded live in Japan. All of them sound very good indeed with very natural perspectives. At the price Amazon are asking, the set is a great bargain. More Reviews