Search - Mahler, Haitink, Cgb :: Symphony 7

Sheer beauty

Pater Ecstaticus | Norway | 10/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For sheer beauty of playing (and sound-picture as well), this (truly superb 1982 digital) recording of Mahler's Seventh Symphony must be ranked at the top. It wasn't awarded the prestigeous Mahler-award of the 'Toblacher Komponierhauschen' (1995) for nothing. This is a recording that is characterized by pure beauty and sumptuousness of tone, as well as perfect playing by the magnificent Concertgebouworkest. And while the whole performance is under the disciplined grip of maestro Haitink, as we would expect, it at the same time conveyes that unique and rare feeling of complete naturalness: as we are listening, we feel that it could only be played thus and no different. It feels just right here, a result of the music being taken at face value.

As so often under the hands of this maestro, who's performances of Mahler could often be called - in the words of Dutch music critic Hans Reichenfeld - 'the clearest imaginable compass', this music here sounds completely free of mannerisms whatsoever. I would like to compare it to Eliahu Inbal's equally beautiful, but somewhat more rough-hewn (in the best sense of the word, and only because the playing of the Concertgebouw Orchestra here sounds so absolutely gorgeously neat and polished!), recording with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, which also has this feeling of complete naturalness and utter truthfulness. Maybe, when comparing these two performances, one could call this performance by Haitink somewhat more polished, without losing any of the character, though!. Just a bit different.

Anyhow, this Mahler 7 is simply astonishing, on all acounts, and can easily be ranked alongside such excellent (very different) recordings as for example those by Michael Tilson Thomas with the San Fransisco Symphony Orchestra (my favorite Mahler 7, maybe), Sir Simon Rattle with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (EMI), and Claudio Abbado with the Berliner Philharmoniker (DGG). Anyone who loves Mahler, and particularly his Seventh Symphony, should IMHO have heard this."