MAHLER ON THE SHORE

posted by James Reel

    As much as I love the guy, Gustav Mahler isn't my idea of a summer-vacation companion. But two smart music lovers have spent some time at his place in the past few weeks, and are writing back with details.
     Alex Ross, in his August 14 blog post, recounts (with photos) his recent expedition to the no-longer idyllic hut where Gustav Mahler did much of his summertime composing, while over at Salon, Kevin Berger offers an essay on Mahler, his hut, and his late works, culminating in praise of the new Michael Tilson Thomas/San Francisco Symphony recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9. I like the MTT SACD very much, although I’m partial to Benjamin Zander and the Philharmonia Orchestra on Telarc and Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic on Sony. Both Zander and Bernstein bring out the maximun angst, weltschmerz, and other things that sound like German words for cooking fat.
    Meanwhile, if you’re looking for truly summery Mahler music, I’ll point you in the direction of his Symphony No. 3, preferably in recordings by Bernstein, Zander, MTT, or Semyon Bychkov.