There must be many
listeners who, like myself, first heard
this work through this recording, and
then moved on to other versions. The
original disc made a big impression
on me musically but the recorded sound
on LP was rather poor. Then I heard
Rattle - when still in his 20s- perform
it live and acquired his Bournemouth
Symphony Orchestra version in the early
days of CD. More recently, Rattle’s
Berlin recording has also found its
way into my collection. This latter
version was Tony Duggan’s top choice
in his survey and the Ormandy recording
is covered in some detail there
.
Deryck Cooke’s first
performing version of the Tenth was
premiered in London in 1964 under Goldschmidt
and soon afterwards in the USA by the
Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy.
This recording dates from the following
year, was the first ever made, the only
one to use the original edition and
it has not previously been issued on
CD. Whilst there is little doubt that
most of the changes Cooke made in the
second version of 1972 are improvements,
the historical value of this recording
seems undeniable. And the really good
news is that the sound is now vivid
and immeasurably improved on CD. Indeed
there is such presence that it is possible
to hear a few things you weren’t meant
to. That is not a serious drawback –
much more importantly the playing sounds
fabulous, particularly in the fabled
strings section.
For those used to one
of Rattle’s versions, the most obvious
difference will be in the tempi for
the outer slow movements. In each case
Rattle in Berlin was more than 3 minutes
slower and, overall, his version takes
7 minutes longer. At the tempi Ormandy
adopts, Mahler’s inspiration frequently
seems feverish but I have no difficulty
with this approach. In terms of instrumentation
there are numerous differences but it
is surprising how easily the ear can
adjust to them. The most striking comes
on rehearing a second military drum
stroke – one to end the fourth and one
to begin the fifth movement. Rattle
has always condensed these to a single
stroke, effectively linking the two
movements. I had erroneously remembered
this as a difference between Cooke’s
versions but both strokes are in the
final version of the score which mentions
Rattle’s performance practice in the
introduction. Incidentally, even if
you are not a person for scores, this
one is worth seeking out for it effectively
documents the creation of what you are
listening to. As the work progresses,
Mahler’s four stave original is reproduced
at the bottom of the page and the miracle
of Cooke’s re-creation comes alive before
your eyes.
The last movement of
this work represents Mahler’s last musical
thoughts and has long seemed to me especially
poignant, even in comparison to the
conclusion of the Ninth. Ormandy’s approach
is to let the music speak for itself
and has a simplicity that is very moving.
This could never be the last word on
Mahler 10 – after all, it was the first!
But it is well worth hearing and should
surely be on the shelves of anyone who
to responds to this endlessly fascinating
music.
Patrick C Waller
see also Tony
Duggan's
review of recordings of Mahler 10
Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy 
