Conceivably, many people own the Kubelik set of Mahler symphonies on DG. But being a live performance, and in remastered sound, this is still an excellent introduction to Mahler's monumental Eighth Symphony. Kubelik is a reliable, no frills conductor, who will always give a balanced, thoughtful reading without extremes of temperament. You could do a lot worse than to learn Mahler from this undoubted master.

This recording also benefits from an excellent set of soloists, whose voices are clearly differentiated: an important consideration in a symphony where the singers so often sing in a group, and where clarity helps bring out the interplay of individual voices. It is also live, as most recordings of this massive symphony are, given the logistics of putting together any performance. If you’ve got the “thousand” performers together, tape them for the moment may never come again! More seriously, a symphony like this is an event in itself, and an experience so unique that it generates its own atmosphere. The sheer dynamic of coordinating such vast numbers creates a sense of occasion which further inspires the performers to give their best. Even performances where there are elements not quite up to scratch retain this feeling of immediacy. If ever there was a symphony that needs to be listened to for total impact, this is it. It’s churlish, I think, to expect utter perfection at all times, especially given the size of the forces involved. After all, the text is about the redemption of Faust and his being accepted into Heaven despite having sinned. Love transcends death, and redeems the flawed soul. Miss that, and you miss a fundamental aspect of Mahler’s entire outlook on life, replicated in different forms in the Second, the Fourth, the Ninth and Das Lied von der Erde, if not more subtly elsewhere.

The main minus with this reissue, particularly for newcomers, is the poor booklet notes. On the other hand, that’s no disqualification. Listen with your ears and soul, don’t bury your nose in the booklet. Then, learn all you can from other sources and recordings.

The opening movement, Veni, creator spiritus is particularly animated. With a powerful surge of the great organ, the symphony gets off the ground, soloists and choruses right on the mark. From an almost silent background, individual soloists rise, their voices weaving and blending together. The soloists are well chosen, as each voice is so distinctive it’s easy to track them: there’s no mistaking Fischer-Dieskau, for example, though his lines are less spectacular, perhaps, than those of the sopranos. Kubelik’s characteristic light touch is persuasive in the non vocal passages. It mirrors the surprising delicacy of the vocal writing. Other conductors can get away with darker textures, perhaps because their singers aren’t as transcendently clear as Kubelik’s.

Even the rather over-bright recording has its merits, adding to the sense of heightened spiritual illumination. This isn’t reality, it’s technicolour Heaven, where various manifestations of the Virgin Mary, Gretchen, Faust and other symbolic figures sing, watched, presumably by anchorites in caves - as described in Goethe’s original text.

Kubelik bathes the next movement with similar light. Behind the songs of the contraltos and Magna peccatrix, for example, you can hear details like plucked strings and harp. Overall, the singing is good, despite occasional strained notes pitched too ambitiously. In the penultimate chorus, the brass repeats the notes behind the words “Blicket auf !” and the sounds fade away, as if dissolving into space. Then, led by the Chorus mysticus and sopranos, themes from Veni, creator spiritus return rousingly, and in full force. Redeemed by love, Faust is transmuted into eternity and taken into Heaven . “Das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan”.

Succédant à Jochum à la tête de la radio bavaroise, Kubelik n'a pas véritablement maintenu la tradition brucknérienne dont son prédécesseur s'était fait le héraut, préférant se concentrer sur Dvorak et Manier. Au disque, il n'a laissé officiellement que les Symphonies nos 3 et 4 gravées à l'aube des années 1980 pour Sony. Depuis, Orfeo a restitué des 8e et 9e en concert, une 6e existant également en DG « Originals ». Poursuivant l'exploration des bandes de la radio bavaroise, Audite exhume à son tour une 3e captée en 1962. La conception de Kubelik, qui utilise toujours la version intermédiaire de 1877, la plus équilibrée (mais dans l'édition Oeser, la seule alors disponible, qui omet la géniale coda du Scherzo), est très proche de celles connues par le disque Sony de 1980 ou le concert amstellodamois de 1954. Mise en valeur par une restauration techniquement splendide, l'interprétation est puissante, romantique, chaleureuse mais aussi parfois échevelée, au point de laisser la ligne directrice se perdre quelque peu au profit de l'engagement instantané - on a le sentiment que Kubelik pense plus à Schumann ou à un premier romantisme quasiment weberien qu'à Bruckner ou même Wagner, dédicataire de l'œuvre... L'orchestre n'est pas infaillible, et l'équilibre sonore parfois surprenant à l'image des premières mesures, pendant lesquelles le célèbre solo de trompette reste trop à l'arrière-plan. Globalement, cette nouvelle parution ne peut donc concurrencer la référence signée Haitink à Vienne, voire les belles versions de Harnoncourt à Amsterdam, ou Sinopoli à Dresde, ni même supplanter la gravure officielle plus tardive de Kubelik à Munich (Sony), plus équilibrée.

Kubelik est un chef qui nous a réservé tant d'immenses surprises chez le même...

On doit à Kubelik une très belle, integrale Mahler (DG) avec l'Orchestre de la...

As with the Kubelik recording of Mahler's Symphony 2 (July/Aug 2001), this 1976 concert performance of Symphony 7 is not to be confused with his 1970 studio recording with the same orchestra. I do not have that earlier recording on hand, but if memory serves, both have the same shortcomings. Although this is a well-conceived, straightforward performance, Kubelik ignores so many of Mahler's detailed notations--details that must be observed if Mahler's rampant imaginative ideas are to be realized--that the performance becomes a mere playing of the notes. For instance, the soaring, ecstatic flight of the strings in I (11:05-12:25) is neither soaring nor ecstatic. In the coda, the wild, screaming piccolos and the heavily scored battery--snare drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, tambourine, timpani, triangle--are scarcely heard (compare with the Horenstein, where they are heard best), and much orchestral color is thereby lost. In II, Mahler surely had more mystery in mind in this 'Night Music' than Kubelik gives us. The "Shadowy" (Mahler's word) III is very unshadowy under Kubelik's baton. (To experience that, try Bernstein or Thomas). The phantasmagoria is almost completely missing. Even the famous fffff(!) pizzicato (four bars after cue 161; "so intensely incited, that the strings strike the wood") sounds like a mere pluck (try the Sony Bernstein!). IV is quite good; Mahler's imaginative combining of guitar and mandolin in this movement is clearly heard (not so in many recordings). The finale brings us back to blandness. True, it is very spirited, but the movement's wild humor is in short supply. In the coda, Mahler throws every thing in but the kitchen sink, but here we do not hear much of it. In short, the movement's delicious vulgarity is lacking.

Despite the fact that many of the instruments (especially percussion) are scarcely heard, the recording has good sound. There are those who prefer their Mahler underplayed, with emotions held in check. I can recommend this recording to them, but as I have said often in these pages, underplayed, unemotional Mahler is an oxymoron.

This 1982 concert performance is not to be confused with Kubelik\'s 1969 studio recording with the same orchestra, chorus, and soprano.

The interpretations are quite similar. Both stick closely to the score, though in both versions, Kubelik ignores many of Mahler\'s detailed notations: caesuras in I, long-held horn notes in V, etc. The only significant changes in tempo are in I, III, and V. The 1982 I is about a minute longer than the 1969; the 1982 III is about 1:20 longer, and the 1982 V is about two minutes longer. The total for 1969 is 76:18, for 1982 80:00. Both are well played and rather straightforward and earnest rather than exciting.

Soprano Edith Mathis is excellent in the 1969, and a shade less so in the 1982. Both contraltos are excellent, with Norma Procter more angelic (1969) and Fassbaender more ardent. In 1969 Kubelik has the basses slow down somewhat and then accelerate in the fourth measure of I. He does not repeat that sin in 1982. The bells at the end of the symphony are reasonably audible in 1982, but next to inaudible in 1969. Sonics in both are good; the 1969 crisper and brighter, the 1982 warmer, with better low frequencies. There is a production slip in this one: Mahler wanted III, IV, and V played without pause. That is impossible here, because III is on one disc and IV and V on the other. The timings are such that III, IV, and V could have been accommodated on one disc.

If you have the 1969 recording, I do not think you need to acquire the 1982. If you like Kubelik\'s way with Mahler and do not have his Second, the 1969 seems to be deleted.

On doit à Kubelik une très belle, integrale Mahler (DG) avec l'Orchestre de la...

Like Audite\'s disc of Kubelik\'s Mahler Sixth (reviewed in 25:5), this recording was made at a concert that preceded the studio recording of Mahler\'s Third issued by DG as part of Kubelik\'s complete cycle. And like the performance of Mahler\'s Sixth, this one illuminates many facets of its conductor\'s art.
Kubelik\'s performances of the “massive” Mahler – the Second, Third, and Eighth – were less
purely monumental than either Solti or Bernstein, his contemporaries in the early Mahler-cycle stakes. Kubelik often celebrates the smaller, finer gestures, so the sense of struggle between elemental forces in the first movement of the Third isn\'t as pronounced as it is with the other two, especially Bernstein. Unfortunately, the sound on this new disc makes less of an impact than that on DG: The orchestra is recessed, so that the imperious horn calls and march are less so. Orchestral detailing is notable, but there are several rough patches where intonation is less than secure. There are occasions in the development where the tempo seems rushed – the sense of momentum isn\'t organic. This is less of a problem on the DG recording.
Not surprisingly, the minuet is exquisite on the DG. It is no less so on the Audite, where the stereo image is just as sharp (though tape hiss is a distraction). The sound on Audite is somewhat thin, adding a metallic sheen to the winds. The playful Scherzo is also delightful, full of the small gestures I alluded to, such as the perfectly judged post horn solos. Marjorie Thomas contributes an “O Mensch!” that is fully characterized, though her voice seems to emerge from an echo chamber; the balance between choruses on “Es sungen drei Engel” is also problematic, with the women dominating the boys. Kubelik\'s employment of divided violins makes the all-important string writing extra clear in the final Adagio. His is an interpretation not without emotion, but with an overall sense of balance that works extremely well.
As with the previous Audite Mahler/Kubelik, this disc is primarily of historic value, vital for those who don\'t already own the DG set. It is an interpretation worth hearing, with the caveats concerning the sound as noted above.

La même cas de figure se reproduit à l’encontre de Kubelik, dont au moins...

Captée lors d’un concert en 1982, cette Symphonie n° 2 par Kubelik est un intéressant témoignage sur l’évolution de la vision mahlérienne du chef. Celui-ci avait en effet gravé l’œuvre pour Deutsche Grammophon en 1969, avec le même orchestre qu’il dirigea pendant dix-huit ans et Edith Mathis. La distribution est donc quasiment identique, et pourtant, le résultat n’a rien de comparable. Le temps et l’âge semblent avoir estompé ces angles tranchants, cette urgence fébrile qui caractérisaient les interprétations de Kubelik. Non que le chef se soit assagi ou ait affadi son propos. Sa lecture est toujours empreinte d’un sens tragique remarquable mais il est désormais moins vindicatif. Le musicien interroge plus qu’il n’assène. Cela, en jouant sur une dynamique en perpétuel changement, sur l’ampleur impressionnante d’un orchestre titanesque, sur la densité des coloris déployés. Souvent on frôle le chaos. L’inquiétude, quant à elle, est omniprésente même dans les passages élégiaques. Le Mahler de Kubelik n’esquisse que de vague sourires, son visage est marqué par le désarroi. A peine croit-il à cette résurrection qu’il espère, sublime, aidé en cela par deux magnifiques chanteuses. Cette lecture vient donc ajouter une autre voix aux indispensables que sont les versions Walter (1985), Klemperer (1951) ou Mehta (1975) et nous fait redécouvrir un grand chef mahlérien.