A vastly underrated Mahler 8th
madamemusico | Cincinnati, Ohio USA | 06/26/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm not sure who "Jo Juda" or "Keis de Wijs" are. The actual soloists on this superb Mahler 8th are Ileana Cotrubas, Heather Harper and Haneke van Bork (the finest trio of ladies since the early Solti version), mezzos Birgit Finnila and Marianne Dieleman, tenor William Cochran, baritone Hermann Prey and bass Hans Sotin, all in excellent voice. In addition, Haitink "pulls together" the disparate elements of this somewhat rambling work in such a way that it makes musical sense, and he is fully dramatic without producing the often harsh sounds one hears on the Horenstein and Solti recordings. In short, this is my favorite Mahler 8th, surpassing my previous favorite (Klaus Tennstedt) by a fairly wide margin!"
A wonderful, very musical performance, but...
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/17/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"..you have to put up with a very poor tenor soloist whose bawlung voice ruins long stretches of Part II. Otherwise, Haitink conducts an understated reading that brings out the subtler beauties of Mahler's writing. "Understated" is usally a code word for dull, but Haitink isn't: he's just the temperamental opposite of the vulgar, luridly hectic Solti. If you want a Mahler Eighth without screaming choruses, this one is a beauty."