Search - Hermann Prey, Gustav Mahler, Bernard Haitink :: Mahler: Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand" [Hybrid SACD]

Some Pluses Outweighed by Minuses

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 07/22/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This recording of Mahler's Eighth Symphony by Bernard Haitink and the Concertgebouw, plus soloists and chorus, was greeted with less than unanimous praise when it came out in 1971 on the Philips label. Here it is again on Pentatone, this time in the hybrid SACD format (playable on both SACD and plain CD machines). I have to believe that the main reason it has been released again is because of the opportunity to have it in more realistic and brilliant sound, although even on that score it is not one of the better Pentatone SACDs I've heard; the recording level is low and the sound is somewhat bass-shy. This is a low-energy performance with some serious weaknesses. Although the orchestra sounds in fine fettle, Haitink's way with the score is soft-edged, almost accentless and formally smudged. It starts nicely enough with a dynamic first couple of minutes but then it begins meandering which, it must be said, is one of the problems with the symphony's form. Some conductors, though, like Horenstein, Solti and Bernstein, have overcome this problem. The five combined Amsterdam choruses manage the punishing choral bits without screaming, and that is all to the good. But the soloists, with the exception of Ileana Cotrubas, Heather Harper and Hans Sotin are not particularly distinguished, and tenor William Cochran is downright painful to hear to times.



The bottom line is that this release is only for Haitink completists, Mahler completists and those interested in buying fodder for their SACD rigs. Others will likely be more discerning. It's not that this is a bad performance, it's just that it is easily outclassed by others.



Scott Morrison"

Haitink's "Symphony of a Thousand" in Glorious SACD

John D. Truslow | Boston MA | 07/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this performance many years ago when it was issued as a Philips LP set (catalog number 6700 049 - 2 LPs), but my turntable was rather primitive - totally unable to track the heavily-loaded passages. When I upgraded to a Linn system, I was very pleasantly surprised at both the sonics and the performance. I had always considered the Solti on London to be definitive. Now I found Haitink's approach more persuasive. But I was hardly prepared for the SACD. If you have a stereo system sophisticated enough to reveal the difference between CDs and SACDs, and you like the 8th, you really should experience this current incarnation."