Gustav Mahler, Benjamin Zander - Mahler: Symphony 3

Our price:	$18.98
Media:	Audio CD
Record label:	Telarc
Release date:	24 February, 2004

Average user rating: Average user rating: 3

Not as good as I expected.

I am a big fan of Benjamin Zander's Mahler. His 4th is the best I have ever heard, and the 5th, 6th and 9th are highly commendable. Zander's insights in his hour long lectures included with each symphony are worth the price of the package which is already a bargain. Thanks to Zander, after 30 years of wrestling with the 9th, I finally understand it. The 3rd, however, is a bit off the mark. It isn't by any means a bad performance, but there are better. My favorites are Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic on DGG and Riccardo Chailly with the Concertgebouw on Decca (a knockout performance by any standards.) I also recommend Bernstein or Michael Tilson-Thomas for the 1st and 6th and Bernstein or Claudio Abbado for the 7th.

A disappointment

Benjamin Zander's previous Mahler recordings (nos. 4, 5, 6, and 9) have all been successful. The interpretation of the fifth symphony is probably his best achievement so far, and the rest are quite good (even if not really outstanding). This recording of Mahler's third symphony, however, is a great disappointment to me.

In the first movement, I think neither the orchestral playing nor Zander's interpretation enable us to penetrate its musical complexities and colourful orchestration. Tuttis are somewhat powerless, percussion almost inaudible at crucial moments, the woodwind weakly emphasized. And Zander is way too hasty at the final bars. The trombone solo is good, however, but it is certainly not raw enough - it is too mannered. Compare with Barbirolli's Hallé trombonist here (BBC Legends), and you'll hear the difference!

Things improve in the second movement, which is given a fine performance. But the movement third is not as raw and powerful as it should be. Moreover, the posthorn solo is not as clearly executed as one could wish.

In the fourth movement, Lilli Paasikivi cannot really compete with the best interpretations, such as Anna Larsson's for Abbado (DG, live) and Marjorie Thomas' for Kubelik (DG or Audite, live). The orchestral part is quite good, though the movement lack the misterioso atmosphere that Mahler calls for.

Fifth and sixth movements are pretty well performed - apart from the final bars in the finale, which lack real grandeur - but the bass in the crucial string playing for the final movement strikes me as too weak. And the boys are not well focussed in the stereo picture (perhaps it sounds better in surround, but I don't know).

All in all, I don't want to recommended this record for those that are not collectors of Zander's Mahler or completists. My first recommendations are Abbado (The BPO live, DG), Asahina (Canyon Classics, live), Barbirolli (BBC Legends), Gielen (Hänssler, live), and Kubelik (DG or Audite, live) - any of those will last for a lifetime.

Zander's 3rd - a performance worthy of Mahler.

Here is a great bargain for you. Three Cd's for the price of one, including a lecture over 1 ¼ hour long by the conductor, who is not just a great interpreter but a fine Mahler scholar as well. The talk is fascinating and it alone is worth the price of admission .It will guarantee to enhance your listening experience considerably and make you a convert, if you haven't been already.
Perhaps the most self-indulgent of Mahler's symphonies, it "encompasses the whole world" to quote Mahler. It is perhaps
the longest symphony of all and includes everything ,funeral marches , birdcalls, brass fanfares, Austrian military
marches, country dances, angelic choirs etc. The overall effect could be a mish-mash in the hands of any lesser composer
than Mahler, but he manages to bring it off very well and a good performance could be absolutely awe-inspiring.
Zander, with tremendous control over the giant forces this symphony requires, leads an insightful,
powerful, sometimes even shattering and certainly well detailed performance. It is a fascinating symphonic journey from the initial fanfare by six horns in unison to the final apotheosis. He builds up the great Mahlerian climaxes and resolves them very well.He maintains the tension throughout and his pacing is very good so the final effect leaves one breathless. The Philharmonia is in excellent form, in fact their fine instrumentalists (specially the winds) deserve a special mention.
I tend to agree however with another reviewer that Zander, being so in love with the work, that he tends to halt the
progress at times, to smell the roses, so to speak. Haitink with the Berlin Philharmonic, I think, moves at a better clip and this is important for performing such a long work.
The recording copes with the tremendous dynamic range, from the almost inaudible horn solo of the third movement to the final fff of the last, one that will bring your ceiling down. It was obviously made with SACD in mind although this is the regular CD version. I feel the sound is overwhelmingly impressive though somewhat over engineered. Maybe my ears are at fault, but I had to fiddle with the volume controls to hear the near inaudible passages and then the fortissimos were unbearably loud.
The recording has recently been reviewed in Gramophone magazine and regarded very highly.
Probably one of the best of the later versions. Highly recommended. Great bargain.