On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 10:28:39 -0500 Alan Kayser <alankayser@hotmail.com> wrote:
I'm wondering what the general opinion among the more expert of you might be concerning John Elliot Gardiner's DG cycle
My preference for Norrington is almost entirely based on the fact that I heard it first. Among period-instruments afficionados, Gardiner is generally considered to be the better musician. To my ears, this is less clearly the case in their respective Beethoven cycles than in their recordings of Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, where Norrington got there first but Gardiner clearly did a better job.
How about opinions on Mahler, specifically complete symphonic collections. I have the EMI Tennstedt, but am partial to Chailly's Fifth, a wonderful rendition IMHO.
I don't know if there's one single Mahler cycle that garners a unanimous vote - though Chailly's ongoing cycle may yet achieve that status, based on evidence so far. The only cycle that comes close to winning the sweepstakes is Bernstein's earlier set on Sony Classical; *some* of the versions in his later Deutsche Grammophon set are as good (and some are better), but some are definitely worse. Personally, I'm a generally fan of single-conductor cycles, since you get a unified overview of the works in question. But Mahler was such a unique and variable composer that in his case, I've made an exception, patching together favorite recordings of the various symphonies by a variety of conductors and orchestras, heavy on Bernstein and Rattle but also including alternative views by Klemperer (2), Barbirolli (5, 9), Eschenbach (1, 5) and Tilson Thomas (1, 6). Steve Smith ssmith36@sprynet.com NP - Beethoven, Violin Sonata No. 1 - Dumay / Pires (DG)