gergiev's mahler today and live

reflecting leinsdorf's - not to mention bernsteins's live, - strong version from boston (1963-pretty good sound) you aware the distinctive difference of special to common music-making.

Good performance, problematic recording...

Musicdirektor

Recording Mahler symphonies presents a technical challenge to say the least. The sheer size of the orchestra means that engineers must decide if they are to most successfully accommodate the full tutti outbursts or focus in on the chamber music elements. Clearly, here they have tried to do both. This is most successful in the full tutti passages but unfortunately, the close and multiple miking gives a rather unnatural balance most of the time. For instance, you can hear the front desk of the violins sometimes over the whole sections. This adds an edge to the otherwise very rich string sound. The double basses are wonderfully (but not naturally, I suspect) captured. As for the reading, it is highly personal and has moments of great excitement (eg. the climax of the second movement and that of the final movement) only marred by passages where Gergiev, characteristically, pushes the tempo forward. Worth the purchase, but the recorded balance is puzzling.