Search - Gustav Mahler, Jesús López-Cobos, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra :: Mahler: Symphony No. 3

A Great Symphony, A Great Recording

Trevor Gillespie | San Jose, California United States | 09/30/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this CD to become acquainted with the work as I have been becoming a fan of Mahler's music. Little did I know that I would be left quite satisfied about not needing another recording of the work. The brass in the first movement are the most striking to me. They seem to take this first movement personally and really stand up to the task. One thing that has been criticized is the singing of the soloist. I am not well hearsed in that type of singing, but I find it quite lovely. The pinnacle of the symphony like most symphonies is the ending. The climax is incredibly built by Lopez-Cobos. The recorded sound is excellent. Also, at two CDs for the price of one, you can't go wrong."

The sound of nature in a freshly inspired performance

Pater Ecstaticus | Norway | 01/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The rasping but well balanced trombone solo to my ears immediately sets the scene for the rest that is to come. This performance of Mahler's Third Symphony is refreshing on many accounts, I think. Indeed, it breaths a freshness very much inspired by the style of the Wunderhorn 'humoresques' that Gustav Mahler was writing during this period in his creative evolution.

The orchestral sound may not(?) be as polished as in other versions under different conductors (take Michael Tilson Thomas with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra), but so much the better I think. This 'Nature-symphony' is maybe best served - as it here is, I think - with a sound that is not purely 'beautiful' (as in 'mellifluous'). Anyway, what is 'beauty' in Mahler? Emotional directness or truthfulness comes first in Mahler, even, sometimes, at the cost of 'beauty', which, in Mahler, would amount to - for example - glossing over the vulgar aspects of the music and the contrasts and dissonances. (Just read what Mahler and some of the people who were present at performances he conducted had to say about this.) Truthfulness to the notes, yes, but above all to the idea's or emotions behind the notes. The way the music is played in this performance of Mahler's Third Symphony - very 'natural', as in 'sounding like nature' - lends this performance a certain emotional directness and truthfulness that, to me at least, is absolutely convincing. And if the conductor seems to be holding back compared to other more 'highly strung' performances, it is only because he 'relies on the rhythmic kicks written into the music to keep things going', to quote another reviewer (Tony Duggan of MusicWeb talking about the marvellous Mahler 7 by Yoel Levi conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra).

When going into the details of the playing itself, it all sounds gorgeously fresh and technically astute, all instrument groups ideally balanced. The posthorn solo in the third movement is wonderfully recorded: distant enough and with just the right amount of reverberation to provide a sense of wide open spaces. I love the sound of the strings, so very clear and fresh and with a certain shiny edge to them; their accompaniment to the posthorn in the third movement has maybe never sounded as shiningly ethereal. The 'acuteness' of the instrumental colours is also a result of the recording, which is wonderfully direct and fairly close, which I like very much. But then again, the timbres of almost all the instruments/instrument groups in this wonderful recording sound as if they are extra highlighted. Maybe this is also a direct result of the vision/method of this conductor. I certainly like this in this symphony, investing it with transparency and freshness. Combined with the rhythmic and melodious accuteness of the playing, this provides a highly captivating listening experience - as if being a witness to the very natural phenomena that surely must have been an inspiration to the composer during his times in his lonely little composing-hut on the shore of the Attersee ...

From what I have heard of this conductor with this orchestra, I like it very much. (I also love the album with Mahler song-cycles sung by Andreas Schmidt). For as far as I could know, his recording of 'Mahler 3' will always remain one of my favorites for this symphony, if just for the wonderfully fresh and restrained finale movement. Not that there isn't any 'muscle' or 'attack' in the playing, which there is in spades throughout (I like incisive playing, especially in Mahler), but at the same time the music really 'sings out' to you in heartfelt honesty. The final adagio is handled - in line with all the rest - with a certain fresh lyricism and lightness of touch, flowing along with wonderfully delicate orchestral balances and legato, and fairly quick (23:11), so that any heavy-handedness and plodding sentimentality is completely avoided, which is IMHO a blessing. (Compared to this recording, the recording by Michael Tilson Thomas with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, for example, sounds too mannered and sentimental. In one interview in Andante magazine with Michael Tilson Thomas the interviewer said the following: "One thing that really struck me is the tempo you chose for the final movement: noticeably brisker (sic!) than one usually hears, and quite the opposite of the general tendency to take a glacial pace in Mahler's slow movements." How strange, since MTT's performance is one of the slowest and most plodding on record [26:31!])

This Mahler 3 has such a freshly inspired playing of such power, beauty and complete naturalness of tone as to make one relive the expierience anew each and every time. This recording re-energizes all of the the senses like a lang walk through a beautiful and sublime mountainous landscape. Not one dull moment all through its one-and-a-half-hour time span! Highly recommended."