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Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No.10 (Deryck Cooke version) (1911) [77:26]
Berlin Philharmonic
Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle
rec. 24-25 September 1999, Philharmonie, Berlin. DDD EMI CLASSICS
5034202 [77:26]
Aside
from the deceptively restful cover art I have no hesitation
in recommending this recording.
This
recording originally appeared and is still available on EMI
5569722. Tony Duggan’s
review covers a number of details regarding Rattle’s approach
to the Deryck Cooke performing version of Mahler’s draft.
MusicWeb-International has covered many versions of this
work, and includes an invaluable recordings overview by
Tony Duggan, in which this recording of the Cooke version
still comes out on top, or at least did at the time of writing.
With the alternative recordings available, this one has clung
on to the support of the Gramophone and Penguin Classical
CD guides. It is here re-released as a top recommendation
for this work with the picture of Sir Simon replaced by an
improbably bland detail from an anonymous watercolour. Artistically-aware
readers may like to help out by identifying the artist and
pointing out the work’s suitability for this disc. I like
a bit of aerial perspective myself, but can think of a good
few more stimulating images.
I’ve
burrowed around in the darker corners of my collection and
re-discovered my 3 LP set of this work recorded live on 13th June
1975 with the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, released
as a memorial for Jean Martinon in 1976. This is unavailable
on CD as far as I know, and other than for historical interest
is not really comparable with Rattle. Riccardo Chailly’s version of
this piece came out in the same year as Rattle’s Berlin CD
and also received multiple plaudits, but my principal reference
has been the second edition of the Deryck Cooke Performing
Version score published by AMP/Faber, and Simon Rattle’s
1980 recording with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, which
I have on the original box no. 7 47301 8 which spread the
symphony over two discs and includes the Schoenberg orchestration
of Brahms’ Piano Quartet No.1. The Symphony No.10 is
now available as a single disc on the budget Classics for
Pleasure label and is still highly recommendable.
Reference
to the score only shows how little the recordings differ
from Cooke’s original thoughts, and aside from picking out
a few well-known alterations such as the omission of the
first sf drum thwack at the beginning of the final
movement – thwacks which are incidentally far more striking
in the Bournemouth recording, pun not intended – there is
little of note to report. The 2007 Gramophone Good CD Guide
has a fun typo over the pages which include this piece, listing
it as ‘Mahler Orchetsral’ which isn’t quite as funny as ‘Orckestral’ which
could stand for the two birds on the front of this new release.
The guide does accurately point out that the early Bournemouth
recording ‘helped win over a sceptical public when we were
much less keen to tamper with the unfinished works of dead
or dying artists.’ I and others still rate the Bournemouth
version as a fine early digital recording, and while the
orchestra has a few more rough edges here and there the performance
for me has in many places more verve and passion than the
more recent Berlin Philharmonic recording. Rattle takes a
slightly broader view of the first movement, timings comparing
at 23:54 for Bournemouth, and 25:11 for Berlin, but the other
movements are as good as identical, which is further evidence
of Rattle’s consistent view of this remarkable and troubled
work. Climactic moments are given the full works here, and
provide genuine emotional impact. That nightmare chord at
18:13 in the first movement is particularly frightening,
especially after the seeming triumph over everything at 17:28.
As a reference these moments come in at a more sudden 16:46
and slightly less frightening 17.27 from the Bournemouth
SO. The wilder Scherzo movements in the rest of the
symphony are performed with higher technical aplomb in Berlin
as one might expect, and with notably better strings and
all the advantages of one of the finest orchestras on the
planet this particular racehorse was never going to come
in second.
This
recording is a compilation from two live performances which
Rattle gave as a celebration on the beginning of his tenure
with the Berlin Phil., having won the post over Daniel Barenboim
in an orchestral vote. There is virtually no audience noise,
and indeed the principal extra-musical noises are from Rattle
himself, as he grunts through some passages, sometimes being
caught even when the orchestra is in almost full flow. This
is a minor point and possibly only a distraction to serious
headphone users such as myself. It certainly doesn’t outweigh
the advantages in vibrancy that such a live recording can
bring. The Guildhall in Southampton, the location for the
Bournemouth SO recording is not without its background rumble
of traffic either, so in terms of extra noise honours are
about equal. In terms of recorded perspective the Berlin
orchestra is miked closer, providing stunning detail and
an intimate acquaintance with usually more obscure instruments
such as the bass clarinet. There is however less sense of
space: an advantage which gives the earlier recording a greater;
or different sense of atmosphere in places.
Not
having the original release to hand I suspect but can’t confirm
that the concise but useful booklet notes by Colin Matthews
are unchanged. The arguments against taking this work as
a serious part of the Mahler catalogue have surely long been
dismissed, and while we can only imagine what the composer
himself would have done to improve, clarify and iron out
what have to be described as flawed or inchoate moments in
this symphony, there are few today who would deny us this
dramatic final utterance of one of the 19th and
20th centuries’ most influential composers. Aside
from the deceptively restful cover art on this re-release
I have no intention of going against the tide of respected
critical opinion, and therefore offer no hesitation in recommending
this recording to those looking for the best from this incredible
rescued masterpiece.