Symphony no. 8

"Stenz leads an excellent account of the extended orchestral introduction to Part II. He and his musicians generate plenty of atmosphere and not only is the playing very good indeed but also the Oehms engineers report it with great clarity ... This is a considerable recording of the Eighth and it's a splendid addition to the Stenz cycle. Indeed, I believe it's one of the best issues in the series to date".

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"Recording of the month: This is presumably the penultimate release in Osmo Vänskä's ongoing series of recordings of Mahler's symphonies ... The mixed reception from MusicWeb reviewers given to them hitherto would suggest that Vänskä is not regarded, on this site at least, as an entirely successful interpreter of that music, but this latest is the best yet ... This is a recording to convince you of Mahler's conviction that his Eighth Symphony was his greatest work. It isn't necessarily better than established favourites like ... Abbado, Bernstein and Tennstedt, but it is a very fine, modern version".

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"Recommended: This quite simply magnificent recording is a triumph all around. The orchestra are on top form; the soloists are uniformly excellent; and the four choirs, superbly balanced, sing out with impressive effect, whether quietly or in full-throated abandon. The organ part is highly effective all along. The final seconds of the Chorus Mysticus are overwhelming, as the repeated crashing of the large tam-tam adds its unique tones to the glorious ensemble ... Not everyone will be carried away by the gradual crescendo of the last five or six minutes, but I am exceptionally pleased to be spirited away! To attend the live performance must have been a musical experience to remember and cherish".

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"Its hyperbolical nickname might be Symphony of a Thousand but the mere 400 performers here sound sufficient to impart the requisite weight to Mahler's grandiose conception of "blending the human and the divine" ... The Tiffin Boys' Choir in particular is to be congratulated for the way in which their young voices penetrate the great wall of sound generated by the three other massed choirs ... As with other famous, large choral pieces ... just keeping it together is a feat in itself and Vladimir Jurowski assuredly does that - and more ... Any performance - and recording - of this still-controversial choral symphony is an event and there is a great deal to enjoy here, even if my reservations about the sound and some of the solo singing mean that it does not replace my favourites".

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"Her et af de allerbedste bud på den store ottende ... Det inderlige og det storladne veksler. Michael Tilson Thomas behersker det prægnant klare orkesterspil og kæmpeapparatet med kor, børnekor og otte solister perfekt ... Helhedsindtrykket er ikke ekstatisk, men mere køligt, men sådan rives man med af selve musikken".

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"Hvad Boulez gør med værket er dybt imponerende. Hvor en Leonard Bernstein fyldte Mahlers musik med varmt blod og rødglødende passioner, som komponistens hengivne apostel, er Boulez i øjenhøjde med Mahler med en suverænt nøgtern, gennemlyst og gennemtænkt fortolkning. Han styrer sine mange medvirkende ... så ubesværet, som var det kammermusik. Selvfølgelig uden at den monumentalitet, som er en del af værket, går tabt ... En mesterpræstation præget af åndeligt overskud ... Også de medvirkende musikere og sangere fortjener stor ros".

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"Den store ottende symfoni ... kræver overblik og klarhed af sin dirigent, som også må have sans for de store effekter. Pierre Boulez og Staatskapelle Berlin har ingen problemer med den gennemhørbare struktur, og effekten følger, selv om man også hører kampen for at få den frem".

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"In music he treated more dynamically during his own LSO tenure, Tilson Thomas allows many (too many?) passages the space to reveal hitherto unsuspected beauties at the expense of forward drive".

"This performance conversely succeeds where most Mahler Eights fall short".

"Forbløffende som denne forhenværende avantgarde-komponist kan forløse denne super-senromantiske følelsesbetonede musik og gøre det som næppe nogen anden ... Her har han en række ukendte sangere, et par fremragende kor og et godt, men ikke specielt berømt orkester til at hjælpe sig, og resultatet er unikt ... Der er ikke brug for andre Mahler 8'er. Den er her indspillet én gang for alle".

"But there's no doubt that for some Boulez will be a blessing on the purpler passages of part 2. There is a crystalline beauty to so much of the music here above the ether, and never mind that Boulez sounds decidely inhibited among the angels ... he at least conveys a Mssiaen-like sense of wonder on the way to redemption".

"Vurdering: Gramophone choice" - "Jansons keeps the music moving and gives himself something to pull back from in the biggest tuttis ... And he has a shining Christine Brewer as his first soprano popping those top Bs and Cs above the stave ... Jansons is ... up there among the select front-runners".

"Vurdering: G (Gramophone recommends)" - "A sumptuous souvenir of the climax to Gergiev's controversial Mahler cycle".

"Vurdering: IRR outstanding" - "The playing is extraordinarily impressive throughout ... This is a great disc, and no mistake. It is the first to which I am glad to give the "IRR outstanding" applation. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise".

"The end result is disappointing, not just on account of its failure to blow one's socks off sonically but because, for various reasons, it fails to engage emotionally. Overwhelming it is not ... Regular readers will know how much I have loved other instalments in this cycle - and perhaps I will again. But it's interesting that the arrival of vocal elements seems to have stalled the magic for Fischer".

"The manifold beauties ... are embraced by Vänskä with great lucidity and an abundance of inner detail, the woodwind especially pulling focus from the voices quite poetically ... Not by any means a first choice, then, in visionary terms but well worth a listen for its many beautiful observations, its first-rate engineering, and excellent soloists".

"This is a very impressive release, and an exhilarating performance of the Symphony of a Thousand to which I shall return with immense pleasure".

"Part 1 never quite transcends the letter of the score ... Zinman is too deliberate to convey much more than the scale of the event ... Part 2 brings out the best in Zinman ... The last 20 minutes are very lovely, thanks in part to the exquisite Juliane Banse".

"Editor's choice: The hesitant, broken - and impeccably articulated - syllables of the chorus picking their way through Goethe's rocky landscape ... Stephen Gadd picks up the thread with a magnificently declaimed Pater Ecstaticus before Matthew Rose replies as an iron-black Alberich to his Wotan ... All come and go in the score, brought together by Mahler (and Jurowski) ... Does it all add up? Very much so ... The LPO Live label already boasts one Eighth - Tennstedt, live in the same venue in 1991 - worthy of a place at the summit of the Eighth's discography. Now it has a second".