Stuning Performance An Excelent DVD. Superb quality of sound and video. If I compared it to the L. Bernstien performance Mahler - The Symphonies plus Das Lied von der Erde Boxset / Leonard Bernstein, Wiener Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, I say that I'm not qualified enough to say what Conductor or Orchestra are better, but I confidently can say that Abbado DVD has an incredible images, breathtaking sound Comparing to the Good image and a little bit harsh and dimm sound of the old performance.
MAHLER AS ELEVATOR MUSIC Over the years I've acquired several CDs of Abbado conducting Mahler, more than enough to convince me that Abbado has no understanding of Mahler. Yet so many reviewers praised this DVD that I began to think I might be wrong, or that Abbado has matured. I wasn't. He hasn't. I'm at a loss to explain the rave reviews, save the one that calls this Second "transporting." Transporting it is, at least in the sense of being perfect elevator music. Abbado's Mahler is only for those who like their music fuzzy and unchallenging.
Ultimate Mahler This is the finest recording of any Mahler work that I have ever seen and/or heard. Abbado's knowledge of the score is comprehensive and all of its contrasts and nuances are sculpted into a perfectly unified whole.
The tone quality, technic and phrasing of soloists, orchestra and chorus are always of the highest quality.
Claudio Abbado once stated that he was committed to conducting without "all that bullying." This is clearly discernible in both sound and sight throughout this state of the art video. Players who have worked under him describe his as the consummate gentleman.
The dimension of his leadership that affects me most deeply is his capacity to show where the music is headed rather than merely carving out successions of beats and measures. Consequently, changes of dynamics and tempo are always beautifully proportioned.
I cannot recommend this recording highly enough but I will keep trying to do so.
Vintage Claudio I have been a fan of Claudio since buying the vinyl of the Mahler 1st many years ago. I own all the Abbado Mahler symphonies on vinyl - and I also have all the Abbado DVDs available on EuroArts and can heartily recommend all of them.
Normally, I would not comment on these excellent performances but I really would like to "set the record straight" re the strange comment from one of the reviewers of this performance re Abbado vs Bernstein. I agree that all music is subjective but I would like to point out that it is not necessary to wave your arms about with great abandon in order to feel an empathy with the score.
Having seen many performances from Bernstein, I agree that the on-stage theatrics do in some way add to the performance. However, to assume that this is a requirement would mean that Sir Adrian Boult had absolutely no feeling whatsoever as his baton hardly moved at all! Abbado is in the same league as Boult - the gestures are for the orchestra when they need them - and one can see the pain on his face at the end of Mahler 2 and 6 when these symphonies are finally over. Just watch the orchestra - they are watching Abbado intently - this is the sign of a great conductor.
In contrast, I recently purchased the Nielsen symphonies on DVD - and the difference is striking. The performances are good - the arm waving is exceptional - but the orchestra appears to be taking no notice.
Make no mistake - this is not "clockwork" - Abbado is one of the best Mahler conductors around. In my humble opinion, he is the best - but each to his own. Buy this DVD - and be amazed. There are precious few DVDs of Mahler - and this one - as well as the Mahler 6th - are spine tingling. You will not regret it.
Clockwork, Pure Clockwork... Yes, the orchestra is outstanding. As are the singers. (Although who - I wonder - decided to dress the female chorus like Quaker women at a barn raising?) And yes, the recorded sound is - for the most part - excellent. (Those climatic chimes DO come off sounding more like clanging cow bells than pealing church bells.) But in the end this DVD is a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. Let's face it, if the final moments of Mahler's Second don't bring an audience to its feet, there's something wrong with either the audience or the performance. In this instance I'd say the answer is: BOTH. (What glimpses we get of the audience show us bored businessmen, less frightened of Death than of a tax audit; people who apparently regard enthusiasm as a sin. Notice that at least one man applauds by tapping his knuckles.) But more to my point, the MAJOR problem with this DVD is its conductor, Claudio Abbado. Oh, he's very good - very methodical and precise. And he obviously knows the score backwards and forwards. Music students would learn by watching him. But he exhibits no passion. And worse, he demands none from his players. Thus, the HIGHS are not-TOO-high, and the lows are...well, genteel. Give me the Bernstein version any day, no matter that its sound and picture quality are dated. Bernstein conducted Mahler as if each performance were his last, and he pushed his players to that level as well - even (and especially) when it threatened to blow the roof off the auditorium or bring his audience to tears. Here, Abbado is adequate, even admirable. But his conducing is all clockwork. Consequently, this DVD is not one I'd recommend to someone unfamiliar with Mahler, for fear they'd end up wondering how people could be enthusiastic about his music.
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