Gustav MAHLER (1860-1911)
Symphony No.3 in D minor (1895-96) [101:47]
Symphony No.10 (1910) - Adagio [22:40] and Purgatorio; edited Otto Jokl [4:03]
Hildegard Rössl-Majdan (alto)
Wiener Sängerknaben
Vienna Symphony Orchestra/F. Charles Adler
rec. 27 April 1952, Vienna (No.3) and 8 April 1953, live (No.10)
MUSIC & ARTS CD-1249 [66:00 + 67:05]
I’ve been keen to hear this performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony
for a long time. It is the first recording of the work and that in itself
would be sufficient to merit listening to it. However, as the late Tony Duggan
indicated in his survey
of recordings of the symphony, it is a commendable recorded performance in
its own right and, as Tony said, it tells us a lot about performing practice
in Mahler.
So, I was aware that this is a pioneering issue. What I didn’t realise
until I read Mark Kluge’s comprehensive booklet essay, is how remarkable
a figure was Charles Adler and I will draw on Mr Kluge’s fascinating
essay for a very brief summary. Adler, who was christened Frederick Charles
but never used his first given name, was born in London in 1889. His father
was a banker and young Charles narrowly escaped a career in business. Instead
he went to Germany where he studied under Felix Mottl. He got the Mahler bug
at an early stage and helped prepare the choruses for the first performance
of the Eighth symphony in 1910. Adler’s early career was spent in Germany
and he rose to become Music Director of the Berlin State Radio (1924-1933).
He fled Germany when Hitler came to power and settled in the USA, his base
for the rest of his life. He established a career in the US, though not without
some difficulty. The key to his later career was becoming artistic director
to a small independent record label, SPA, which was established in 1951. The
following year Adler went to Vienna and established a relationship with the
Vienna Symphony Orchestra. He was to pay regular visits to the city to give
concerts and make recordings with the VSO until his death from cancer in February
1959.
Adler’s repertoire was nothing if not varied and enterprising; it ranged
as far back as Frederick the Great and as far forward as a good deal of contemporary
music. Mahler featured strongly and for SPA he made the first recordings of
the Third and Sixth symphonies as well as one of the earliest recordings -
the third, in fact - of the torso of Mahler’s Tenth.
Having waited so long to encounter Adler’s version of the Third I’m
delighted to say that it doesn’t disappoint. The trouble for someone
hearing it in 2012 is that we have been spoiled by hearing so many very fine
recordings of the work set down since Adler’s pioneering account. For
myself, when listening to the Third I find it very hard to dislodge from my
memory Leonard Bernstein’s superb first recording of the work, made
for CBS in April 1961 (review)
or Jascha Horenstein’s very different but equally memorable 1970 traversal
(review).
It’s a measure of Adler’s achievement that his recording can be
compared with these two market-leaders. It’s also worth noting that
this massive symphony was set down in a single day - a feat repeated by Bernstein
nine years later.
In the immense first movement Adler adopts quite a sturdy basic tempo for
the march. I have to admit that there are several moments in this long movement
when I wanted him to move the music along more. You won’t find the flamboyance
of Bernstein here, nor the drama of Horenstein. However, Adler is by no means
dull and in his hands the music is strongly projected - not least by the solo
trombone. Adler has the measure of the music and conducts with grip and an
excellent sense of purpose. You may feel that his tempi are careful, even
cautious. I confess I thought that at first but I came to feel that in fact
what we have here is a case of a broad conception of the music; essentially
Adler’s is a firm, confident view of Mahler’s great march. His
is undoubtedly a spacious reading: he takes 37:42 compared with Bernstein’s
33:16 and Horenstein’s 33:09. However, he maintains concentration well
and he certainly carried me with him. He obtains good playing from the Viennese
orchestra - as he does throughout the symphony - though it would be idle to
pretend that we’re listening to the same level of virtuosity as is provided
by the New York Philharmonic (Bernstein) or the LSO (Horenstein).
In the middle movements Adler’s timings are pretty similar to the other
two conductors - though, of course, we’re considering much shorter movements
here. In the second the VSO give him some graceful playing - and some nimble
playing also - and Adler seems to me to be very successful and idiomatic in
his use of rubato and in negotiating tempo changes. There’s more characterful
playing on display in the third movement and once again Adler conveys the
essence of the music. That said, it sounds a bit deliberate at times and there’s
no doubt in my mind that Bernstein, for one, is much more adept at inflecting
the rhythms with the right amount of spring. The post horn solo episodes are
well managed; the instrument is decently distanced. However, the soloist is
not the equal, I think, of Bernstein’s player or of Horenstein’s
and I think there’s rather more magic in both the rival versions.
Hildegard Rössl-Majdan is a good, expressive soloist in the fourth movement
and Adler’s account of the fifth is sprightly; here he gets some good,
lively choral singing. He sets the seal on his performance with a dedicated
reading of the long, slow finale. He’s patient in this movement, over
which he takes 26:00 (Bernstein takes 25:04 and the somewhat more flowing
Horenstein 22:43). It’s a deeply felt interpretation by Adler, who gets
some eloquent playing from the VSO. I think he displays vision as well as
patience in this movement and he brings the symphony to a majestic conclusion.
Mark Kluge asserts that Adler’s reading is “something more than
merely an earnest effort”. I agree entirely. It’s a well-considered
and idiomatic interpretation in its own right and even if it were not the
first recording of this symphony I think it would merit a secure place in
the recording history of this work. I’d say that as a pioneering achievement
it’s up there with Eduard Flipse’s recordings of the Sixth and
Eighth symphonies (review).
Music & Arts also include the two movements of Mahler’s Tenth which
were all that were ever played until scholars such as Deryck Cooke produced
performing versions of the full score. The music included here is given in
the edition by Otto Jokl. Adler recorded this music for SPA in April 1953.
Interestingly, however, M&A have chosen not to issue that recording but
instead give us a live performance - with separately tracked applause - that
Adler and the VSO gave on the day before the recording sessions. Apparently,
this live performance has not previously been issued on disc. Adler leads
a dedicated reading though for some reason that I can’t quite put into
words the performance didn’t engage me in the same way that the Third
did.
These recordings appear in 2010 transfers by Aaron Z. Snyder. As usual he’s
done an excellent job and the sound quality on these sixty-year-old recordings
is pretty impressive. The recording of the Third, in particular, is an important
document and should be heard by all Mahler enthusiasts.
John Quinn
see also review by Jonathan
Woolf
Masterwork Index: Mahler
3
Charles Adler’s recording of the Third symphony is an important document
and should be heard by all Mahler enthusiasts.
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