MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS

Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No.4 in G major (1900) [57:40]
Sunhae Im (soprano)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Manfred Honeck
rec. live, Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, 29-31 January 2010. Stereo/Surround DDD/DSD
EXTON EXCL-00048 [57:40]

Experience Classicsonline



I've been listening a lot recently to Philip Herreweghe's Mahler 4 performed on period instruments. His is a lean account, with little vibrato and no more tempo fluctuations than are strictly necessary. Manfred Honeck's interpretation of the work is at the opposite end of the spectrum, and the contrast between the two recordings is astonishing. Herreweghe demonstrates that the music doesn't need much help from the podium in order to produce drama and profound emotion. Honeck, in contrast, shows that continuous intervention by the conductor can also be musically justified. And the results certainly are powerful and immediate. But it can also feel laboured, as if every detail of the score has to be pedantically spelled out with some heightened articulation or localised rubato. Well, the score doesn't need any of that, although some listeners may appreciate the help Honeck offers in getting to grips with what is, in fairness, a radical work.

The first movement gets off to a brisk start. By speeding up the sleigh-bells on the first page, Honeck is able to glide over that awkward tempo transition in the fourth bar. From then on the first movement is a roller-coaster, with every opportunity for dramatic contrast exploited to the full. The orchestra are on top form throughout, with glistening strings, distinctive woodwind solos, and that warm yet penetrating sound from the brass that you only hear from the top American orchestras. The ensemble of the orchestra is also impressive, especially given the many radical tempo shifts that Honeck affects.

Contrast is again the key feature of the second movement, with some excellent solos from the leader, the horn and the woodwinds interspersing tuttis that regularly risk going over the top. Honeck knows how to maintain control of the orchestra, so the dangers are always illusory. There is a wonderful sense of serenity at the start of the third movement, which is taken surprisingly slowly. But this too soon gives way to yet more intense drama. By about half way through the third movement, it becomes apparent that Honeck is presenting the Fourth Symphony as if it was of the same scale as Mahler's other symphonic works. It is hard to say whether that is an arrogant or an insightful approach. It certainly forces the listener to address their preconceived ideas about how the Fourth is different. And most importantly, it all adds up to a coherent and genuinely originally interpretation.

The volume drops in the fourth movement as the orchestra recedes to an accompanying role to the soprano Sunhae Im. In any other context, I'd say that Sunhae's vocal style is far too florid and operatic for this music, but her performance is exactly in accord with the approach that Honeck has been taking in the previous movements, expressive and direct, if not precisely subtle.

The SACD audio quality is up to Exton's usual impressive standards. In fact, the company is fast becoming the market leader in terms of the definition and vibrancy that they can produce from live orchestral recordings. You need an orchestra that is up to the job to make this sort of recording project worthwhile, and a very significant factor in its success is the fact that every section of the Pittsburgh Symphony plays to an exceptional standard. I've just one grumble, the bass, impressive as it is, doesn't sound very natural. The Exton producers have clearly gone to great lengths to create the soundscape they are looking for, but in other recordings they manage to disguise their post-production balancing behind a veneer of apparently natural sound. The sheer quantity of bass here, and I'm thinking particularly of the bass drum, is spectacular but hardly realistic. Like the performance itself, the only problem with the recording is a lack of subtlety, and of all the symphonies in Mahler's catalogue, the Fourth is where you are going to feel that the most.

Gavin Dixon

 

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.