Repertoire: The BEST Mahler 8th--The Symphony of a Thousand (Errors?)

Mahler's epic Eighth Symphony is no longer the major event that it used to be, and really ought still to be, and the number of completely successful recordings is surprisingly few. Here they are.

[calinc]

I still remember when I discovered the piece, I couldn't believe that such music existed, I was totally blown away.

[neilasimon]

I experienced a live performance with Klaus Tennstedt in London with the LPO. It was an event in every way and a massive performance that is imprinted in my memory. I also studied singing with John Mitchinson who was a last minute replacement for the Bernstein recording which catapulted his career and it was a piece he sang many times and said it was always an event.

[randallschultz]

I've had the pleasure of hearing this work live on four occasions. Recordings serve as reminders of those live performances. I'm so grateful to have your recommendations regarding recordings. I'll check them out and meanwhile look for another live performance. It's time to hear it live once again.

[marks]

Great line "....you don't want to be aware of this giant machine in operation. You just want to hear the result". Excellent review - thanks

[williamwhittle]

Wit’s recording, a blu-Ray disc, finally
at age 83 got me to finally like this
work.

[Alex-zext]

Mahler's 8 review in 9 minutes? Can't believe but David surely nailed it. No mention of Nagano (popular choice, but weak tenor and weird tempos) or Chailly (either Concertgebouw or Gewandhaus - both very good). Still, Solti is amazing and the first choice for me (stellar cast, glorious Chicago brass) and Antony Wit is a pleasant surprise and highest recommendation into anyone's Mahler collection.

[ftumschk]

I have fond memories of a performance by the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain at the 2002 Proms, conducted by Simon Rattle. It's available in 8-9 minute chunks on YouTube, but the whole recording has never been issued by the BBC, which is a real shame. Whilst not one of the greatest (I agree that Wit and Bertini take some beating), seeing these young musicians rising to the challenge of Mahler's Eighth, and doing it so well, never fails to move me.

[marcelobriones]

Thank you David for the recommendation of the fantastic Mahler 8 with Wit and Warsaw National. Deeply beautiful. I just knew the Solti/Chicago and Abbado/Berlin versions (the recordings I have). This Naxos release is now my favorite. If it wasn't for your video I would have never bought this one. I bought the download version from Presto Music in 24Bit/96kHz audio quality and it is superb.

[therealdealblues]

Have probably at least 20 recordings and Gielen's live recording from 1981 in Frankfurt is the one that really draws me in. Lots of energy and the feeling of it really being a special event.

[gsaproposal]

Dave: I've heard M8 live eight times, the latest being James Conlon's magnificent performance in Cincinnati three weeks ago. I've lived with M8 for 51 years and you are spot-on: Wit's recording is one I've been waiting for since 1972. Of course, I bought the Solti LPs when they came out, but I always found that record shrill and one-dimensional. Wit and his outstanding engineers really capture the work. Great catch, Dave!

[eddiethom]

Held off on the Wit recording until today & boy was I transported, the buildup to the finale (the second to last track) was perhaps the greatest most heavenly 5 mins I’ve ever heard. You said it, it was flowing & natural!

[jimslancio]

I was honored to be a Chorus 1 first tenor in the Michael Tilson Thomas/San Francisco Symphony recording.
I remenber how MTT joked that between "AC -" and
"- CENDE" was the Part 1 late seating break.

[denbigh]

Grew up with the Solti -listening to it today (in New Zealand) since it’s the Day if Pentecost

[dennischiapello]

I'm glad you're not as swayed by cover art as I am! I always need an extra nudge to opt for Naxos, because theirs is so dreary. Of course, there's plenty of repertoire where they're the only game in town, and I can't say I've ever been disappointed in their recordings. I might, in fact, buy the Wit, since my appreciation for the 8th could use a boost.

[leslieackerman]

your assessment of the Solti is right-on. It was a true game changer for collectors but that was half a century ago.

[HassoBenSoba]

I recently checked this video for your recommendation on the 8th, and I'm glad that I did. I just listened through it, and it is superb, for all the reasons you list.

I'm especially impressed with the sensitive shaping of the vocal soloists' extensive passages in the first movement; definitely the best I've heard, ESPECIALLY since they help delineate the movement's overall structure. The main "Impetuoso" sections are now clearly heard as the main architectural material (as opposed to everything being fast and loud). The vast Second Movement actually seems to unfold as a major dramatic event, so clearly paced and built as it progresses. Brilliantly done.

I could have used a bit more "lingering" in the lovely passage of the Penitent and the 3 Biblical ladies, my favorite section of the work (OK, so shoot me), but the preceding "hovering/schwebend' passage is ecstatically gorgeous, which is JUST what's required at this point. (I should point out that every time Mahler writes "nicht schleppend", Wit actually speeds up a bit, not really what's intended). Then there's the build-up to the Finale, beginning with the most lovingly rendered "Blicket Auf" that you will ever hear; it's enough to make you weep with joy (and the tenor soloist is very good). Not much to say about the ending that the performance doesn't say 1, 000 better than I could (and the massive Tam-tam...holy cow!). I initially felt that the slightly-too-abrupt final chord was somewhat miscalculated, until I sensed that the DRIVE that we feel in the closing seconds may actually be connected to the 1st Movement's "Impetuoso" tempo, something of a mini-revelation to me.

I'd never give up Bernstein, Abbado, Neumann/Czech (the big passages still unequaled, IMO), but Wit is definitely here to stay. Thank again., 3 years later. LR

[barryguerrero]

I have million Mahler 8's because I really like the piece. Your two top choices, Bertini and Wit, are right up there - as good as in my collection.

[langleychris]

Thank you for the recommendation of Antoni Wit recording.
It was everything and more as you said.
The best I have listened to by far.
Many thanks.

[LaRush]

I was at that horrendous Botstein Carnegie Hall 8th too. It was so embarrassingly bad, my jaw was dropped from the balcony to the loge. I truly have never witnessed such a mess, They couldn't play together to save their lives. And the soloists were off from the orchestra near the end. Just atrocious. Such a magnificent piece when done right, though.

[edwardcasper]

I saw Solti's live performance of the 8th Symphony in Chicago at the Lyric Opera House in about 1970. It's been 50 years, but I'm almost certain the program also included Vladimir Ashkenazi playing Beethoven's Emperor Concerto. Whew! Needless to say, that was a pretty massive - and long - undertaking. The piece was recorded later that year in Vienna, during the orchestra's first European tour. I understand a number of parts of the recording (the organ, among other things) were done offsite and dubbed in later. That could be why the recording often seems a bit disjointed.

Interestingly, I heard the 8th a few years later at Ravinia, conducted by James Levine, the festival's music director at the time. It was played quite effectively by a much smaller group of performers. The opening piece on that program was Stravinsky's arrangement of the National Anthem.