In the past two years
I have reviewed a number of new Mahler
Thirds. Abbado
(DG 471 502-2), Gielen
(Hä
nssler CD 93.017), Tilson
Thomas (SFSO/Avie 821936-0003-2)
and Litton
(Delos DE 3248) have all passed through
my CD player. None has come up to my
expectations of what a performance of
this extraordinary work should deliver.
None have deposed from my affections
versions by conductors from a previous
generation, some of them never meant
for commercial release. Go back to my
reviews of those versions and you
will see each time I returned to Horenstein
(Unicorn UKCD2006/7 and Brilliant 99549),
Barbirolli (BBC Legends BBCL 4004-7),
Kubelik (DG 463 738-2 or Audite) and
Bernstein (Sony SM2K 47 576) to name
just four for what I believe to be a
more idiomatic vision of what Mahler
had in mind when he closed the book
on this universe of a work.
Broadly speaking it
seems to me that conductors of the present
day have lost touch with the earthiness,
the unalloyed warmth of heart, the poetry
and sheer effrontery that this symphony
contains in its highways and byways
and which their elders seemed to latch
on to as though it were second nature.
Too often in modern versions there is
a smoothing out of the awkward distortions,
a straightening of the jagged edges,
frequent broadening of tempi, veneers
of syrupy emotion, especially in the
last movement, and even a combination
of all four that, at most damaging,
renders the symphony a half-empty vessel.
After listening a number
of times to this disappointing version
by Benjamin Zander I made the "mistake"
of then listening to a commercially
released broadcast recording by Hermann
Scherchen (Tahra TAH 497-498) and a
non-released one by Berthold Goldschmidt,
both from 1960. Straightway I knew what
I had been missing. These two great
Mahler interpreters of the past may
not be blessed with the kind of rich
and detailed digital sound that Zander
is given but such is their uncanny and
innate understanding of the deep structures
of this work that matters of sonics
cease to matter. In Scherchen’s case
he is even labouring under the disadvantage
of conducting an orchestra that would
struggle to be called second rate.
No matter. Such is the players’ grasp
of what Scherchen is doing that even
their technical shortcomings cease to
matter all that much. In the case of
Goldschmidt he had before him what was
then one of the world’s best orchestras
- in fact the same one as Zander, albeit
of forty-three years ago. I must say
that on this evidence the Philharmonia
of 1960 knew their Mahler more intimately
than their counterparts of 2003. Surprising
because in 1960 they had never played
the work before yet still had it within
them to bend their collective spirit
in a manner of playing, a tone of musical
voice, that now seems lost. Both conductors
project a symphony full of ambiguity,
cocky self-confidence, naïve poetry,
warmth of heart, wonderment and an emotional
richness that comes not from an outside-in
imposition but percolates out from the
core, all in overarching, urgent, forward-moving
structures that have you on the edge
of your seat from first note to last
the best part of two hours later.
It is a Mahlerian truth
not to be questioned that a performance
of the Third Symphony that fails to
bring off the first movement successfully
and idiomatically is fatally wounded.
That is the case with the Zander recording.
The horn-led opening under him is powerful,
leonine and vividly projected, but not
nearly elementally seismic enough.
The high woodwind trills which become
scattered right through the movement
seem far too regimented and cleanly
delivered to approach the demented squawks
that Mahler surely intended. The trombone
solos are well played but, as with the
woodwind trills, are still too contained,
not rude enough. All of this is symptomatic
for me of Zander not really "getting"
this symphony. Listen to Kubelik or
Barbirolli here for the real experience.
Under Zander there seems in the whole,
long introductory passage of the first
movement too literal a presentation
of the material, a feeling the desire
is to present the notes rather than
what lies beneath them. The great march
of Summer that dominates the movement
sees the bands beautifully turned out
and well-drilled though there is in
the recorded sound an edge to the brass
when playing full out that is tiring
on the ear. Following the horn section’s
crowning of the climax at the mid point
of the movement the lead-back to the
return of the march and the stormy variation
of it leaves me with the impression
that Zander didn’t really know what
to do with this transitional passage.
That he’s just longing for that storm
to come up. Others manage to retain
attention and build the tension right
through. The battle of the storms itself
is not as bone-shaking as it could be.
It’s a stiff breeze rather than a hurricane
and the last bridge passage to the coda
is again lacking in tension. The coda
itself, capable of being the most exciting
music that Mahler ever wrote, is ruined.
Zander presses so hard down on the accelerator
that I was put in mind of the way Furtwängler
used to conduct the coda to the last
movement of Beethoven’s Ninth. The orchestra
just about hangs on, but all nature-storming
grandeur is knocked down in the rush.
The second movement
does contain some nice touches, in the
string playing especially, but the slides
are strictly controlled, the phrasing
all too calculated. The whole tone of
the movement seems cool and detached
where there should be warmth. The third
movement fares better with more of what
has been missing in warmth and involvement,
though there is still an impression
of the metrical to a fault. Every rhythmic
jump and jerk superbly prepared and
executed, but are the animals in the
forest really like that? Then there
is the post-horn solo. This wonderful
effect in the third movement is one
of Mahler’s greatest master-strokes,
an evocation of nostalgia that is second
to none in all music. In this recording
Zander calls for his soloist to use
a genuine post-horn and the instrument
is even described for us in the notes.
The problem is that the player is set
so far in the distance that you can
barely hear what he is playing. You
can, of course, turn up the volume control
but you would then have to turn it down
again quickly when the whole orchestra
joins in. The dynamic range of this
recording is problematic and no more
so than in these crucial passages. Listen
to the Horenstein recording where a
flügel-horn, excellently placed
in the picture, brings off the effect
for me every time. In modern recordings
Abbado’s player, using a bog-standard
trumpet, is well placed and convincing
and that in a recording made
"live".
In the two choral movements
it was a pleasure to hear the warm tones
of Lilli Paasikivi and the vitality
of the Tiffin boys who all lead into
a consoling and grand final movement
where, at last, there is a glimpse of
what a great Mahler Third really can
be.
The Philharmonia Orchestra
plays very well throughout and the recorded
sound is rich and beefy, though the
dynamic range is huge as I indicated
when discussing the post-horn. Fix a
volume setting to contain the all-out
passages with comfort and you lose detail
in the quiet passages.
In not meeting my own
criteria for a really worthwhile Mahler
Third, Benjamin Zander is certainly
not alone. Indeed he is in very distinguished
company among present-day conductors.
Though you will not be surprised to
learn that his is not among the first
of the modern versions I would recommend
to those who demand the latest sound
and are prepared to compromise somewhat
in performance terms. For that go to
Abbado or Tilson Thomas, to choose just
two, who are both excellent in their
own ways and superbly recorded. For
everyone else it’s still back to "the
usual suspects": Horenstein, Barbirolli,
Bernstein, Kubelik and, if you can cope
with the playing and the sound, seek
out Scherchen. You won‘t be disappointed.
A largely disappointing
recording that cannot stand comparison
with the greats from the past. Admirers
of Zander who are collecting his Mahler
cycle will, I suspect, take no notice
and buy it anyway.
Tony Duggan
Tony Duggan's
synpotic
survey of the Mahler Symphonies
Philharmonia Orchestra/Benjamin Zander 