Post by hiredfox November 11, 2011 (1 of 7)
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This is a disc that has been so widely acclaimed that further comment on the performance would be unhelpful and presumptuous and probably repetitive so the issue here is only the benefit of having it on SACD as opposed to the earlier RBCD.
The original - for me - never quite delivered the promise implied by the earlier reviews. One may sumise that commentators at the time went well over the top following the appointment of SSR to the helm of the BPO - if my memory serves me well (which usually it does not!) this was their inaugural recording.
SSR's style is famously less formal and authoritarian than that of Karajan and even Abbado so critics seemed to relish the prospect of the BPO being let off the leash 'at last' so that individual players might have greater freedom of expression within the whole.
For me I have always found SSR to be infuriatingly and painstakingly studious and undemonstrative in his conducting style and frankly would love to see him loosen up a bit in performance. Evidently however, he succeeds extremely well doing what he does without my paltry advice as his brand new contract testifies !
The new recording? Oh, yes that! It is certainly more voluminous than the RBCD but not particularly Expansive; the sound stage is certainly no wider than before and only slightly deeper; the dynamic range is greater but not realistically so; inner detail is better but still shrouded in the orchestral fog.
One major criticism of the RBCD was that the horns were set too far back in the acoustic so losing their important intervention impacts. Evidently in re-mastering for this SACD the producers either did not take that on board or were unable to do anything about it as nothing much has changed there.
So overall a rather disappointing offering that left this listener feeling somewhat 'flat' and under-whelmed so not one I could whole-heartedly recommend. As others have observed there are so many Mahler 5's around even on SACD that this one is not first choice for SACD aficionados.
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Post by seth November 11, 2011 (2 of 7)
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I own it on CD; I think it's a fine performance, but ultimately nothing that special. The sound is a bit boxy, recessed and lacking in air around the instruments -- a combination of the Philharmonie's acoustics and EMI wanting to keep out any audience noise so that it sounds more like a studio recording.
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Post by Luukas June 26, 2015 (3 of 7)
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Would you like to post some photos of the disc and the jewel case? Is this really an multi-channel recording? I want to hear your comments too.
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Post by Kieron June 26, 2015 (4 of 7)
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Luukas said:
"Is this really an multi-channel recording?"
I have this recording on standard DVD and DVD-Audio.
The packaging claims it to be a six channel surround sound recording,available also as a "high resolution" stereo recording, both compatible with DVD-audio players.
Ciarain.
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Post by Luukas June 27, 2015 (5 of 7)
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It would be interesting to see the packaging design - the disc's layot and the back cover. I haven't this disc yet, so I want to know what it looks like.
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Post by Kieron June 27, 2015 (6 of 7)
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Post by Luukas August 20, 2015 (7 of 7)
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Why only 4 of 7 recommended this SACD? I listened the CD album and the performance was simply marvelous! The famous "Adagietto" was very touching here and the virtuosity of the finale was truly something special. BBC Music Magazine gave the following results for the original version: **** (Performance) & ***** (Recording)*
So, what is the problem? :O
*) **** means "Excellent" & ***** means "Outstanding"
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