We’ve all done it; imprinted on a specific
recording, that is. I certainly did on a late winter’s afternoon
in 1980, when I first heard this
Resurrection on LP. It was
the start of a love affair with this symphony that shows no sign of
waning. As for the recording itself it’s remained a favourite
of mine, despite the countless versions I’ve heard or reviewed
since. Indeed, I still maintain it’s one of Zubin Mehta’s
finest and most enduring performances on record. It’s not his
only Mahler 2, though; he also recorded a rather less successful version
with the Israel Philharmonic. Curiously Decca chose the latter for release
on DVD-Audio in 2001.
This Vienna
Resurrection last appeared on a premium-price SACD
from Universal Japan; before that, in 2000, it was reeased as part of
the 24/96 Decca Legends series. I bought several of the latter, including
Solti’s Mahler
Eighth, and found most didn’t live
up to the hype. Generally they sound very clean – often clinically
so – and that makes them fatiguing to listen to. However, Decca’s
recent BD-A/high-res download of that Mahler 8 is nothing short of a
revelation (
review).
Indeed, it raised my hopes for a top-flight re-master of this WP Mahler
2. Incidentally, Warner’s 24/96 re-master of Klemperer’s
1961/62
Resurrection also surpasses earlier incarnations of
that classic; not surprisingly it was among my Recordings of the Year
2013 (
review).
As with other releases from the Universal stable – of which Decca
is now a part – the BD-A under review offers PCM and dts-Master
Audio options, selected via the coloured buttons on your Blu-ray player’s
remote control. It’s all very basic compared with the mshuttle
software embedded in BD-As from 2L and their partners. That allows access
to additional content – documentation and downloadable audio files
in a variety of codecs - via a PC or Mac. Elegant and intuitive mshuttle
is the best way to go; alas, the jumble of BD-A ‘standards’
is symptomatic of a general lack of co-ordination in the record industry.
It's all too familiar, I’m afraid.
So, have Decca applied some of their snake oil to this
Resurrection?
First impressions are quite favourable, although it soon becomes clear
that the treble is quite fierce. The recording isn’t particularly
spacious either, and there are audible shifts in perspective as well.
That matters less when the performance is as muscular and forthright
as this. There’s none of the agony and etiolation of late Tennstedt
and Bernstein, just a sure sense of structure and purpose. The orchestra
are on good form too, and this re-master makes the excellent timps sound
more thrilling than ever.
Given that the virtues of this performance are well documented, it probably
makes more sense for me to focus on the sonics. Apart from the reservations
already expressed the sound of this BD-A is pretty decent, if not the
quantum leap I’d hoped for. There are times – in the quieter,
more pointed moments especially – where this re-master takes me
back to the beguiling loveliness of the original LPs. That said, tuttis
can lack focus – the timp-led
crescendi, for example
- but the heroic brass and the two soloists are superbly caught. Happily
there’s none of the jar and judder that occasionally disfigures
Solti’s
Eighth, made in the Sofiensaal just four years
earlier. In any case such is the strength and veracity of Mehta’s
reading that sonic shortfalls don’t matter too much.
As a performance this reminds me of Jonathan Nott’s Bamberg set,
which was one of my Recordings of the Year in 2010 (
review);
he also takes a firm, no-nonsense view of this symphony without diluting
its emotional impact. He has the benefit of superior modern sound, and
that’s a real plus in the dynamically challenging finale. Mehta’s
off-stage brass are more convincing than most and his chorus are crisp
and fervid from the outset. Tension rises slowly and inexorably and
the hushed singing has an added presence that I hadn’t sensed
before. Ditto the plangent woodwind and gorgeous harps.
I remember the Romanian soprano Ileana Cotrubas being pilloried for
her ‘intrusive aitches’ in Kleiber’s
Traviata,
recorded two years later. I certainly don’t have any problems
with her phrasing and diction here. As for Christa Ludwig – who
graces so many fine recordings of this work – she’s as radiant
as ever. Mehta’s tempi and tempo relationships have always struck
me as very convincing, and it’s only in the immediate run-up to
the clarion call of ‘Bereite dich!’ that the pace slackens
somewhat. He soon reasserts his grip and the finale flowers as naturally
as it always did. The assembled supplicants are as ecstatic as ever,
and while the bells were never prominent in this recording I’m
pleased to report the organ sounds far more substantial than it did
before.
So, a classic
Resurrection that stirs and uplifts with the
best of them. It certainly deserves a place at the top table, whatever
Mehta's detractors might say. Also, it’s a good springboard for
newcomers to the work, not least because it avoids the excesses that
clot and cloy so many of its rivals. Perhaps it’s a sign of age,
but the directness of Mehta, Klemperer, Gielen, Wit, Zinman, Nott and
Young is what I cherish most these days. On Blu-ray video Riccardo Chailly’s
Leipzig account combines a well-focused reading with ravishing sound
and pictures (
review).
That really is BD technology at its best.
This BD-A isn’t the quantum leap I’d hoped for; still, it’s a moving and memorable performance.
Dan Morgan
twitter.com/mahlerei
Previous review:
John
Quinn
Masterwork Index:
Symphony
2
