"I bought the LP set in February 1966, after earlier experiencing the fantastic "premier" performance by Ormandy and the PO. For me no later performance has come close to the vitality and lyricism expressed by Eugene and his band. Plus I find the Cooke I version much better than the rather emaciated, anemic Cooke II version. Given Mahler's predilection for percussion when necessary, Cooke I anticipates this quite well.
The CD is a bit up close in its reproduction, resulting in a few areas of stridency, but in all, it does the LPs justice. Fortunately there's no inner groove distortion of the louder and/or higher pitched sections. In all, an improvement on the original 2-LP set (which I still own 40 years later) and a wonderful realization of the piece.
One wonders what Mahler's final version would have sounded like. There are passages during the initial Adagio that give hints as to what that would have been, kind of a "polytonal" or "simultaneous tone" answer to where Schoenberg was going.
Ormandy allows all this to present itself naturally, and without exaggeration. A great performance. A desert island recording."
At long last, the king returns to the catalogue.
Alan Montgomery | Oberlin, Oh USA | 06/23/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This recording is at last retuning to the catalogue. I had it first on LP, with a side 4 that had trouble tracking due to the drum whacks that begin the 5th movement. My reel-to-reel tape gave up long ago. So now I can hear it again.
Is the wait worth it? Oh yeah! Ormandy always had an uncanny ability to let the music speak for itself, never getting in the way, as Bernstein and others do. I have almost every recording of this symphony that there is, and none of them come up to this fabulous recording. The plangent opening violas prepare us for a trip that will eventually drain us totally. No other recording quite matches the heartrending way Ormandy has with the last movement. And the 1st Deryck Cooke verseion/orchestration still stands the test compared with his own 2nd version, two by Remo Mazzetti, Wheeler, Carpenter and Barshai. Before this recording gets away, buy it and enjoy it. It would be a bargain at twice the price. At this price, we are really the beneficiaries. Now, RCA/Sony how about the Philadelphia/Ormandy Mahler 2nd, Shostakovich 13 and 14, and some of the other neglected Ormandy recordings?"
A bargain reissue of a famous, high-profile Mahler premiere
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/15/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In 1965 Eugene Ormandy won the prize of getting to premiere on records the Mahler Tenth as completed by Deryck Cooke (a year after the concert premiere in England). The musical world was abuzz when CBS released this excellent-sounding and gorgeously played reading, one of the very best in Ormandy's huge discography. Sony put it in a 2-CD bargain set for a long time, but now we have it sounding great on a single mid-price disc.
Mahler left behind two fleshed-out movements: the soaring Adagio, which took on a life of its own long before Cooke orchestrated the remaining sketches, and the quirky third movement 'Purgatorio,' which was nearly complete in full score. At the time Ormandy had the field to himself (the Welsh condcutor Wyn Morris released a good version considerably later, in 1972), but now we have great modern performances by Chailly, Levine, Daniel Harding, and two from Simon Rattle.
Ormandy shouldn't be discounted, though. These sketches depend heavily on great execution to cover over bare patches, and the Philadelphia Orch. is in top form, with Ormandy acting as an accomplished, alert leader. Cooke was lucky to get such an outstanding exhibition of his work. After four decades, this is an immensely enjoyable recording, notable for its natural musicality rather than its intensity."
Best of the Cooke Mahler 10ths
B. Guerrero | 11/23/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Many of my fellow Mahler nutcases feel that the Michael Gielen 10th is the best. I don't. Predictably, Gielen is excellent with the more expressionistic moments. Thus, his entire fourth movement is very good. But I think that the Ormandy simply flows the best from begining to end. It also has the advantage of the incredible Philadelphia string section at its peak. Gielen is nearly too fast with the short and enigmatic "Purgatorio" movement (third movement). Ormandy pegs it just right. In addition, Ormandy's solo bass drum (start of the fifth movement) doesn't blow you out of the room as it does with Gielen and Rattle/Birmingham (adjusted to a more reasonable volume on Rattle's Berlin remake). I also don't find the minor additions and adjustments made by the Mathews brothers to the second and third Cooke versions to be helpful; or an improvement in any way. In conclusion, the Ormandy remains the best of the Deryck Cooke Mahler 10th's. Now we can finally hear it in really good sound.
As a supplement, get the Litton/Dallas (Delos) recording of the wild and wooly Carpenter version - if you can keep an open mind and think of it as Mahler/Carpenter. For me, Carpenter at least addresses the major issues of the piece, while Mazzetti, Barshai, and Wheeler simply add lots of useless filagree to the basic Cooke foundation. But this is greatly a personal issue - a matter of preference."