About stuff and Mahler's 5th

[Lynn]

Hello all; I just want to say that I am going to start a new Beethoven message board at PianoTonight.com. You can start one of your choice, too... just go there. The rest of the site is awesome, too! <P>There's Concert listings, mp3s, and everything!<P>And I'm not working for them or anything- I've just been emailing the student who started it, and he is really nice and wants to get a classical community together. <P>see ya,<BR>Lynn

[Luis]

I'm going to see Zubin Metha and the Israel Philharmonic performing Mahler's 5th on August!!!!!

[BenG]

Luis,<P>I'm really appreciating Mahler's 2nd more and more. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to first-time Mahler listeners, though. It's a vast work and the two-CD set is a bit expensive. Bernstein always does a great job, though. My question to you is this: What Mahler symphony would you recommend next? In what order would you rank them?<P>Regards,<P>BenG

[Luis]

Well, I paid almost 50 bucks for my copy of Bernstein’s M2 here (totally out of stock) even when I already had it on my PC and it’s probably my most treasured CD!!! I usually recommend this one because I think it’s better to start with something really impressive than with something ‘easier’. Perhaps the easiest M symph would be his 4th -something like B’s 6th in his output- but I don’t think it could make a novice that interested. Of course I’d never introduce somebody to classical music with this one but that was not your case.<P><BR>This is my Mahler ranking:<P>2nd - Bernstein NYPO 1988 DG<BR>5th - Chailly, Royal Concertgebouw, London<BR>9th - Boulez, Chicago SO, DG (not the most popular choice but it’s great to me)<BR>8th - Abbado, BPO, DG<BR>6th - Bernstein, NYPO, DG<BR>3rd - Salonen, LA Phil, Sony <BR>4th - Bernstein Royal Concertgebouw, DG<BR>1st - I don't know of a really good version. I downloaded mine and I don't know neither the orchestra nor the conductor.<P>------------- Out of Ranking <P>7th (I haven't heard it yet)<BR>10th Rattle, BPO (Mahler only finished the Adagio -1st mvt-) <P>This could be a good itinerary:<BR>2, 5, 4, 9, 3, 8, 1, 6, 10, 7 (many mahlerites don't like this last one)<P>PS: I know all these recommendations are really, REALLY good. (I have them and I bought them after proper advices) but I'd suggest you to go to the Mahler forum every time you are going to buy a new symphony. Many dudes there sometimes have more than 30 versions of each one and they are very cooperative on these and other matters. (I remember having received advices about like 50 versions of M9!!) <A HREF="http://www.linefeed.com/mahler/discussmain.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.linefeed.com/mahler/discussmain.html</A> <P>Best wishes, Luis.

[BenG]

Thanks Luis, I've copied and saved your list and I'll go by that. By the way, I'm listening to Mahler's 2nd again right now. Every time I hear it it grows on me even more. I liked it upon first listen, but parts of it eluded me. It has a broad perspective but now I'm beginning to understand it better. It's like a great flowing river that has many sources.<P>I'll check out the link too. It's amazing that some people have up to 30 different versions of one of his symphonies. And I used to think I was a fanatic for having 4 different versions of a Tchaikovsky piece, ha ha.<P>Thanks,<BR>BenG the novice Mahlerian