| Review by cherrell November 5, 2014 (6 of 6 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics:  |
Inbal gives a very musical reading of the 7th. Similar to Zinman, but much darker and more rustic in sound and, very mature. The tempos are fairly unified through out the movements, but it doesn't feel that way. He actually speeds up the central section of the 1st movement, while keeping the march sections at a nice march tempo before and after. Inbal almost sounds as if he's being very literal with the score, but it's more romantic without over doing it. A very taut, controlled and well thought out 1st movement.
The middle three movements are very, very good with the winds stealing the show. This recording has some of the most idiomatic Mahler playing I've heard to date. The sarcasm, irony, sexiness, and all shades of humor are readily apparent. The 2nd Nachtmusik may be a tad slow for some, again, though it doesn't drag and flows quite nicely. It comes across to me as being more middle-aged romance, then young love.
The finale clocks in at just under 17 minutes. Inbal really holds the nuttiness back until this point. He really lets go here and is very successful in this. The structure of the movement is also very clear in Inbals hand, he's very deft in not letting it turn into a mess while still allowing Mahler to poke fun at himself, and the music of the era he lived. He gives us the light of day, which is what Mahler asked for.
The recorded sound is top notch except for one problem, you can hear Inbal singing on the podium. Not all of the time, but it's enough to annoy slightly.
This is the best Mahler 7 I've heard on SACD and perhaps RBCD too. It's that good. I like that this disc is almost a throwback to the older Mahler tradition, but it's not quite there. It rides a fine line between texture/transparency and dark/lush romanticism, Inbal pulls it off in spades.
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