My favorite recording of the Third remains the recording by Maurice Abravanel and the Utah Symphony Orchestra. I first discovered this recording, on LP (Vanguard Cardinal Series VCS10072/73, my copy pictured above), by chance in the cut-out bin of a record store in Columbus, Ohio back in the early 1980s, long before I had ever really listened to Mahler in earnest. I thought it sublimely beautiful, and still do. Years later, I was thrilled and relieved to find it re-released on CD, as I had feared I would wear out the grooves on the LP never able to replace it.
I can't imagine a finer performance of this piece, and the sound is
ethereal. On a road trip across the United States, in 2009, in search of
things beyond my grasp, atheist though I am, I stopped in Salt Lake
City to pay homage to the Mormon Tabernacle because it's where this
recording was made. The Tabernacle is manned by eager young Mormons who
want to talk about God, I found. The young woman who approached me,
visiting from Brazil, I think it was, didn't understand why I was there.
Although the Tabernacle is an odd building--looking much like a tired roller skating rink or a hockey arena with a stage and chairs in it instead of ice, and with
wooden columns painted to look like marble--it's magical for its sound.
The other Abravanel Mahler symphony recordings are very good, too, but this is a standout. In fact, if I had to pick a single recording from among the thousands that I own--of any music by any composer--to take with me to a desert island, I'd probably pick this.
A bounded infinity.
The other Abravanel Mahler symphony recordings are very good, too, but this is a standout. In fact, if I had to pick a single recording from among the thousands that I own--of any music by any composer--to take with me to a desert island, I'd probably pick this.
A bounded infinity.
Happy New Year to all my friends and acquaintances—whether Mahler excites you or not.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment