Maazel Mahler

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G major – Kathleen Battle, sporano; Wiener Philharmoniker; Lorin Maazel
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 236 Mb | FLAC+LOG+M3U | No Cue | Full scans | 3 RS links
Publisher: Sony Classical

One of the best performances of Mahler's Fourth Symphony

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor – Wiener Philharmoniker; Lorin Maazel, conductor
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 297 Mb | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Full scans | RS and 4share links
Publisher: Sony Classical

Contrary to his recording of Symphony no. 4, Maazel’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 get divided reviews. My opinion is pretty much like this one from Amazon.com:
This is one of the best Mahler 5 recordings I have heard. The Vienna Philharmonic sounds absolutely fabulous. Maazel's has recorded the whole Mahler cycle with Vienna. The performance of Mahler 4 has become very well known. The Mahler 5 seems to be not as popular. This might be because Bernstein also recorded a great live version with Vienna as well. Maazel's interpretation of the piece is very balanced and clear. Maazel brings to me what is a slightly more clear approach to this music, but still with great climaxes. I really like the opening movement and the third movement scherzo. The balance between all the sections is really amazing. You can hear every entrance and every voice. This is a triumph of the players and to the Sony recording engineers. I would highly recommend this Mahler recording to anyone.

In memoriam Maestro Maazel, Sony Classical re-releases the ‘Maazel Great Recordings’ 30-CD Box to honour his great work.

Lorin Varencove Maazel was born of American parents in Neuilly, France on March 6, 1930 and the family returned to Los Angeles when Lorin was still an infant. He exhibited a remarkable ear and musical memory when very young; he had perfect pitch and sang back what he heard. He was taken at age five to study violin with Karl Moldrem. At age seven he started studying piano with Fanchon Armitage. When he became fascinated with conducting, his parents took him to symphony concerts, then arranged for him to have lessons with Vladimir Bakaleinikov, then assistant conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Like the growth of the cult of Christ, the growth of the cult of Mahler started with the man himself performing his works whenever and wherever he had the chance. Like Christ, Mahler was followed by true believers who had known him and who proselytized for him among the unbelievers with the fervor of musical Pentecostals. The true believers were followed by those who had never known the man himself but whose belief was therefore all the more passionate and subjective. And thus it was that the faith spread from Mahler to Walter, Klemperer, and Mengelberg; and then on to Mitropoulos, Bernstein, Kubelik, Solti, and Haitink; then on to Abbado, Bertini, Boulez, de Waart, Inbal, Maazel, and Rattle, spreading from the true believers to the passionate believers of the true believers to those who still keep the belief but whose faith is more reason than emotion, more intellect than spirit, more nuance than rapture.

"Among Simon Rattle's first concert programmes as the new chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was Gustav Mahler's Sixth Symphony. The performances marked the beginning of a new chapter in Mahler interpretation, for Rattle, like his predecessors Jansons, Maazel and Kubelík, is an ardent admirer of the composer. BR-KLASSIK has now released the live recording of the concerts. Gustav Mahler's Sixth Symphony is perhaps the darkest work he ever wrote – its nickname is “The Tragic”.

In November 2021, even before taking up his post as chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle began a cycle of Mahler symphonies with a performance of the Ninth (BR-KLASSIK 900205). The Sixth followed in September 2023 (BR-KLASSIK 900217) and the conductor is now tackling the composer's Seventh Symphony. This cycle marks the beginning of a new chapter in Mahler interpretation, as Rattle is just as passionate a Mahler admirer at the helm of the orchestra as his predecessors Jansons, Maazel and Kubelik. BR-KLASSIK has already released the live recording of the current concert with Mahler's impressive Seventh Symphony from November 2024.