Twyla Robinson - Mahler: Symphony No. 8 ~ Boulez
List Price:
Our Price: $9.30
You Save: $8.69 (48%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $8.99 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: Twyla RobinsonConductor: Pierre Boulez
Orchestra: Berlin Staatskapelle Orchestra
Performer: Berlin Radio Chorus
Performer: Berlin State Opera Chorus
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2008-01-08
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Veni, Creator spiritus
- Imple superna gratia
- Infirma nostri corporis
- Tempo I. (Allegro, etwas hastig)
- Infirma nostri corporis
- Accende lumen sensibus
- Veni, creator...Da gaudiorum praemia
- Gloria sit Patri Domino
- Poco Adagio
- Piu mosso (Allegro Moderato)
- Waldung, sie schwankt heran
- Ewiger Wonnebrand
- Wie Felsenabgrund mir zu Fuben
- Gerettet ist das edle Glied-'Hande Verschlinget'
- Jene Rosen, aus den Handen
- Uns Bleibt ein Erdenrest
- Ich spur soeben-Freudig empfangen wir
- Hochste Herrscherin in der Welt
- Dir, der Unberuhrbaren-Du schwebst zu Hohen
- Bei der lieb-Bei dem Bronn-Bei dem hochgeweihten Orte
- Neige, neige, du Ohnegleiche
- Er erwachst uns schon-Vom edlem Geisterchor umgeben
- Komm! Hebe dich zu hohern Spharen-Bicket auf zum Retterblick
- Alles Vergangliche
Music reviews of Mahler: Symphony No. 8 ~ Boulez
Music Review: Does Boulez's DG Mahler cycle represent the real Boulez?
Rating: 3 Stars
Does Boulez's DG Mahler cycle represent the real Boulez? The answer to this question is a resounding No.
For the record, I'm anything but a Boulez basher. My interest in Boulez verges on the obsessive. I love Boulez's music, and I'm wildly enthusiastic about much of his conducting. I've heard him conduct several different orchestras in person many times, and I've heard virtually every studio recording he's ever made, most of which, his late DG recordings aside, I have on CD. I also have countless live recordings of Boulez the conductor including the world premières of half a dozen Boulez pieces, and I have plenty of live Mahler performances with Boulez conducting, including four of the 3rd, three of the 2nd, and three of the 8th. More important, I think Boulez's strengths as a conductor are perfectly suited to fundamental aspects of Mahler's style: for example, Boulez is a consummate master of the subtle ongoing adjustments of tempo, monomaniacal focus, and pursuit of the long line necessary for the projection of such gradually unfolding works written in a sostenuto style as the last movement of Mahler's 3rd. That being said, I can't imagine duller or more imperturbable performances of the Mahler symphonies than Boulez's DG recordings. Unfortunately, they're ghastly misrepresentations of what his Mahler is really like. The DG performances themselves are not only excessively smooth and serene: they're also artificially lit and glassily recorded. The sounds produced by the orchestra sound as if they were produced by a really good synthesizer instead of real instruments, and the results are downright creepy.
Boulez isn't the only conductor whose studio recordings are far tamer than his live performances: Abbado and Dohnányi are just two of the countless conductors who should never be allowed into a recording studio, conductors who are far more interesting live than in their tamest and most excessively polished studio recordings. Performers are much more apt to be swept up in the heat of the moment in a live performance than in a recording studio where -- well aware that a recording will preserve every imperfection -- they inevitably focus more on sheer polish and accuracy. But the comparative deficiencies of Boulez's DG recordings go well beyond what can be attributed to these inevitable problems of the studio recording.
A majority of the Boulez performances DG has released are quite unlike his other performances, live or studio. Boulez has certainly changed over the years: the serene Boulez of today is a less explosive and volcanic figure than he was in the 1960's, but Boulez's DG recordings not only sound markedly unlike his live performances from the 1960's and 70's, they sound markedly unlike his CBS recordings. Most damningly of all, they sound markedly unlike the live performances that immediately preceded the DG recordings. Inert, excessively homogenized, and polished to death, the DG recordings are the monstrous and misleading exceptions in his recorded legacy.
Immediately before Boulez recorded the 2nd, 3rd, and 8th symphonies for DG, performances with the same forces used in the recordings were broadcast live, and -- far livelier and more distinctively shaped -- the live performances are vastly superior to the DG recordings. Most surprisingly of all, the broadcasts were captured in far superior, more natural seeming sound by the broadcast engineers.
All you have to do to be struck by the difference is to compare the opening of the live broadcast of Mahler's 2nd to the opening of the DG recording. In some respects, of course, the two performances are not all that different. The kind of articulation that Boulez draws from his double basses in the opening of the first movement is more or less identical in both performances, but the two performances come across very differently, and the difference cannot be attributed solely to the inevitable relaxation of tension characteristic of studio recordings. While the live performance is recorded fairly closely and lacks the exaggerated resonance of the DG effort, the DG recording is rather distant and excessively reverberant, and these differing perspectives have a real impact on Boulez's performances. Beautifully shaped, the playing that Boulez elicits from the double basses in the opening of the first movement is anything but the notes and nothing but the notes, but, on DG, the menace and pent-up aggression palpable in the live performance are replaced by something that sounds far tamer.
I can do no better than quote what an acquaintance of mine wrote to me after he'd heard the live broadcast of Mahler's 3rd that directly preceded the DG recording: "I wouldn't bother getting the DG release, whose sole advantages are a wider dynamic range (if that's an advantage) and more accurate playing by the orchestra. Perhaps surprisingly, aside from dynamic range, the live performance sounds far superior to these ears qua sheer sound -- more immediate and detailed, tonally more vibrant and colorful. By comparison, the studio recording (which has to be played back at a much higher volume setting than normal to make any sort of impact) sounds cool and almost monochrome -- e.g., where the bassoon during the murmurings at the start of [the first movement] conveys a range of rich, woody sounds in the live performance, on DG it sounds smoother and monochromatic, rather like a low clarinet. I doubt that any of these differences are attributable to Boulez but are rather attributable to microphone placement etc. -- could he or even would he change the tonal qualities of the entire orchestra in such a way? -- but either way they have the effect of making the live performance sound more, well, alive even though interpretively they're probably really quite similar. I won't be playing the studio recording again..."
In short, in addition to the inevitable loss of intensity all too often characteristic of studio recordings, Boulez has been ill served by his engineers. The real Boulez is to be found, not on DG, but in some of the live recordings, in the great soaring and sweeping live performances of the 8th symphony that are floating around out there, for example, including particularly the 1974 performances with The New York Philharmonic. Even more spectacular than the live broadcast of Mahler's 2nd that preceded the DG recording is a performance with the BBC SO from the 1974 Proms that is one of the most spectacular performances of the 2nd Symphony you're ever apt to hear: no other conductor has been as effective in conveying the manic urgency of the run through varying terrain up to the choral finale of the last movement than Boulez, and no other conductor has ever projected the gradual crescendo of that finale's overall shape any more effectively.
Here's a list of the performances of the 2nd and the 8th I have in mind. All of them were broadcast, and the performances with the BBC SO have been released on various fly-by-night labels specializing in live material. If you really want to hear Boulez's way with Mahler, throw away your DG recordings and look for these:
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, "Auferstehung"
Felicity Palmer, soprano; Tatania Troyanos, mezzo-soprano
BBC Chorus, London Philharmonic Choir, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez
Royal Albert Hall, London, August 27, 1974
Mahler: Symphony no. 2 in C minor, "Auferstehung"
Christine Schäfer, soprano
Michelle de Young, mezzo-soprano
Singverein der Gesselschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Pierre Boulez
Vienna Festival, 2005; Grossen Konzerthaussaal, Vienna, May 31, 2005
Broadcast on Ö1, June 12, 2005
Mahler: Symphony no. 8
Edda Moser, soprano; Felicity Palmer, soprano; Betty Allen, mezzo-soprano; Jan de Gaetani, mezzo-soprano; Werner Hollweg, tenor; Siegmund Nimsgern, baritone; Raymond Michalski, baritone; Westminster Choir; Boys Choir of the Little Church Around the Corner; Boys Choir of St. Paul's Episcopal Church; Newark Boys Choir
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Pierre Boulez
Avery Fisher Hall, New York, February, 1974
Mahler: Symphony no. 8
Edda Moser, Linda Esther Gray, Wendi Eathorne; sopranos
Elizabeth Connell, mezzo
Bernadette Greevy, alto
Alberto Remedios, tenor
Siegmund Nimsgern, baritone
Marius Rintzler, bass
BBC Singers, BBC Choral Society, Scottish National Orchestra Chorus,
Wandsworth School Choir
BBC Symphony Orchestra; Pierre Boulez
London, 25 July 1975
Mahler: Symphony no. 8
Twyla Robinson, Soile Isokoski, Adrienne Queiroz, sopranos;
Michelle DeYoung, Simone Schröder; contraltos;
Johan Botha, tenor; Hanno Müller-Brachmann, baritone; Robert Holl, bass
Staatsopernchor Berlin
Prague Philharmonic Chorus
Aurelius Sängerknaben, Calw
Staatskapelle Berlin, Pierre Boulez
Berlin, 9 April 2007
-david gable
Classical CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Classical CDs
Winterscapesby London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops:
The Queen, the Bear, & the Bumblebeeby Dini Petty
Children's Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.40
Price in other shops:
Classical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs CdrRelease date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $25.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
![Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] Image](/images/Jose-Carreras-Jubileum-Concert-VHS-1584481471-X.jpg){kind=small}
Jose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops:
![Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] Image](/images/Tchaikovsky-The-Nutcracker-Nureyev-Park-Royal-Ballet-VHS-156127092X-X.jpg){kind=small}
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.94
Price in other shops:
![Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] Image](/images/Lonely-Town-Lonley-Street-Sergeant-Early-Dream-VHS-1561270857-X.jpg){kind=small}
Rambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops:
Winter Music: Composing the Northby John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.75
Price in other shops:
![Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Puccini-La-Fanciulla-del-West-Santi-Domingo-Neblett-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720382-X.jpg){kind=small}
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] Image](/images/Verdi-Falstaff-Giulini-Bruson-Ricciarelli-Nucci-Royal-Opera-Covent-Garden-VHS-0769720358-X.jpg){kind=small}
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Michael Schade [Tenor], Wiener Philharmoniker [Orchestra], Pierre Boulez [Conductor] Violeta Urmana [Mezzo-Soprano] - Mahler: Das Lied von der ErdeRelease date: 2011-10-21; Music CD
Best price: $13.98
Price in other shops:
Mahler: Symphony No. 1Release date: 1999-04-13; Music CD
Best price: $8.46
Price in other shops:
Mahler: Symphony No. 5Release date: 1997-02-11; Music CD
Best price: $10.28
Price in other shops:
Mahler: Symphony No. 6 ~ BoulezMAHLER,G.; Release date: 1995-04-11; Music CD
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Mahler: Symphonie No. 3 - Anne Sofie von Otter / Wiener Philharmoniker / Pierre BoulezRelease date: 2003-03-11; Music CD
Best price: $37.39
Juliane Banse - Mahler: Symphony No. 4Release date: 2000-01-03; Music CD
Best price: $7.86
Price in other shops:
Mahler: Symphony No. 9Release date: 1998-03-17; Music CD
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops:
Magdalena Kozená - Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn- (12) Lieder selections / Symphony No.10- AdagioRelease date: 2010-10-05; Music CD
Best price: $9.78
Price in other shops:
Mahler: Symphony No. 7 ~ Cleveland Orchestra / BoulezRelease date: 1996-09-17; Music CD
Best price: $8.76
Price in other shops:
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection")Release date: 2006-06-13; Music CD
Best price: $8.58
Price in other shops: