As a recent convert to the manifold pleasures of Blu-ray video
I was keen to try one of Naxos’s audio-only discs. Unfortunately
my first purchase, John Corigliano’s Circus Maximus,
refused to work in my player, so I was a little anxious about
ordering this Wit Mahler 8, which I already have on CD. I needn’t
have worried, as it all worked like a dream.
The Symphony of a Thousand is an ideal candidate for
a high-res presentation, and Naxos must be congratulated for
their foresight in recording this in 24-bit/96kHz stereo and
surround sound as well as the standard 16-bit/44.1kHz used for
the CD. I have always admired Wit’s reading of this piece, not
least for its coherence and sense of drama. Not only that, he
is blessed with a well-matched team of soloists, which is surprisingly
rare in this work. His choirs are pretty good as well, and the
balances on CD seem entirely natural. There’s no lack of thrill
and amplitude either, making this one of the best Mahler 8s
in the catalogue.
So how does the Blu-ray version compare? I listened in PCM stereo
and from the outset I knew this was going to be a real treat.
The transporting cries of ‘Veni creator spiritus’ open
out as never before, the ample organ powerfully present but
not overwhelming. There’s a convincing left-to-right spread
– the soloists are especially well caught – and the sound has
a finely etched quality that one simply doesn’t hear on the
CD. But it’s the conductor’s firm grip on the music that really
impresses; rarely has this first movement passed so purposefully
yet still sounded so fresh and spontaneous. The rapt intensity
of the singing – solos and ensembles – is a joy to hear, the
pieces of this vast Mahlerian jigsaw falling into place at every
turn.
The return of that opening chorus and the vast, phosphorescent
surge that follows have seldom been captured with such fearless
fidelity; indeed, the sense of peering down on to a packed stage
from a seat in the balcony is remarkable. Ditto in Part II,
where Wit and the Naxos engineers make Mahler’s colour palette
glow with new vigour and vibrancy. I was simply astonished by
the minute detail unearthed here, the plucked strings especially
beautiful. That wouldn’t count for much if Wit’s reading wasn’t
so compelling, each tableau knitting seamlessly with the next.
This really is a graveyard movement for the unwary, but Wit
traverses its valleys and scales its peaks with nary a stumble.
There aren’t any misjudgements among the singers either, and
I’m particularly pleased that there are no wobbles and squalls.
I honestly can’t remember a better bunch of soloists than that
assembled here; diction is fine and there’s an almost holographic
quality to their presentation that is very impressive indeed.
Even the massed choirs have a discernible shape, a three-dimensionality,
that one doesn’t often hear in recordings. As for the orchestra,
they’re as adept in Mahler’s chamber-like passages as they are
in the big set-pieces. The brass scythes through dense orchestral
thickets and the timps lay down a formidable carpet of sound
in the huge tuttis. And just listen to the magical harp in track
19; glorious, simply glorious.
As with all true Mahlerians, Wit has the finale of this sprawling
symphony firmly in his sights from the first bar. The inexorable
undertow, that tremble of anticipation, is keenly felt, especially
in the transported singing of the finale. Goodness, I’d forgotten
just how unerring Wit is here, the closing peroration arriving
in a blaze of triumph, organ, bells and huge tam-tam hurled
into one’s listening room as never before. I can only guess
at how immersive this must sound in a properly configured multi-channel
system.
Wit’s Mahler 8 has always been a hidden gem in the Mahler discography,
and now this Blu-ray makes it shine with even more lustre than
before. True, one pays a bit more for this than the CD, but
the audible – and emotional – gains make this a mandatory purchase
for anyone interested in superb Mahler and even better sound.
Dan Morgan
Note on the DTS-HD Master 5.1 Surround track
First on a point of information, the surround recording is
advertised on
the sleeve as 5.1 but my processor reads it as 5.0. This could
of course
be a typo. The surround tracks are clearly the result of a different
mix
and a pretty disastrous one at that. The sound is recessed and
lacking
immediacy, as if the microphones were placed at the back of
a large
hall. The orchestra is partially placed behind the listener
with the
choruses in front. The soloists almost disappear into the mix
and
sometimes lack direction. Orchestral detail is less audible
than the
stereo. The overall sound is in marked contrast to the very
satisfactory
PCM Stereo mix in being overbearing and shrieky on climaxes,
it is also
at a higher level. It sounds as if the mix was supervised by
an engineer
who had no idea what the original sounded like. I recently attended
a
performance of this symphony at the Royal Albert Hall in London
and I
can confirm that this music can all be heard from a decent stalls
seat,
from the quietest pianissimo to the loudest fortissimo, without
any of
these problems. Given the large number of positive reviews of
this
performance in this and other publications this is surprising.
I can
only guess but I would suspect the recording was originally
intended
only for stereo and that a surround effect has been extracted
via studio
processing. Perhaps Naxos would like to comment. Meanwhile I
would
direct multichannel listeners to the San Francisco/Tilson Thomas
SACD.
Dave Billinge
Polish Radio Choir; Warsaw Boys Choir; Warsaw Philharmonic Choir
NBD0009
[80:15] 
