{"product_id":"horenstein-conducts-mahler-symphony-no-3-lieder-195461-pasc565","title":"HORENSTEIN conducts Mahler Symphony No. 3, Lieder (1954\/61) - PASC565","description":"overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eMAHLER \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eSymphony No. 3\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eMAHLER \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eKindertotenlieder*\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eMAHLER \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eLieder eines fahrenden Gesellen*\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eLive and *studio recordings, 1954* \u0026amp; 1961\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003eTotal duration: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12px;\"\u003e2hr 10:39\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eHelen Watts\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e, contralto\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e*Norman Foster\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e, baritone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eHighgate School Choir\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eOrpington Junior Singers\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eLondon Symphony Chorus\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eLondon Symphony Orchestra\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003e*Bamberg Symphony Orchestra\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003econducted by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003eJascha Horenstein\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_titlefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_quotefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9review_bodyfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9main_samplefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fsamples\/PASC565.mp3578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fProducer's Note578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003eAlthough a beautifully bound score of Mahler's Third Symphony found in Jascha Horenstein's library boasts a calligraphic dedication to him on his twenty-fifth birthday, 6 May 1923, the work appears to have entered his repertoire only in January 1953 when he gave its Italian premiere in Rome. Strangely and sadly, the Italian broadcaster RAI did not preserve the tapes from that occasion, which also included the world premiere of Alban Berg's Altenberg songs (PASC 445). Horenstein subsequently conducted the symphony twice in London, made a celebrated commercial recording for Unicorn in 1970 and performed it again in Turin, Italy, in December 1970. The present recording documents Horenstein's second performance of the symphony in November 1961, an occasion that is associated with several notable “firsts”: it was the first concert performance of Mahler's Third in the UK by a professional orchestra; it was the first time the London Symphony Orchestra played the work; it was the first time Helen Watts sang the solo part for which she later became famous, and it marked the first appearance of the celebrated Highgate School Choir on an international stage. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe performance, errors of execution notwithstanding, faithfully reproduces Horenstein's meticulously fashioned view of Mahler's longest symphony, with a strong sense of unity within each movement and through the work as a whole while maintaining the rich diversity of pace, rhythm, character and motif that Mahler poured into it. The interpretation is clearheaded and direct, climaxes are slow to build (a characteristic feature of Horenstein's Mahler) but absolute in their power and never leave one in doubt as to where and when the culminating points are reached. In this performance, probably due to the presence of an audience, Horenstein abandoned the somewhat reserved air that distinguished his Unicorn recording for a more forceful, propulsive approach of sustained and intense concentration and sweep, capturing some of those qualities that in the concert hall made him so absorbing and persuasive an interpreter.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOf the two song cycles included on this disc, Horenstein's favorite by far was Kindertotenlieder, whose world premiere recording he conducted in Berlin in 1928 with soloist Heinrich Rehkemper. He subsequently performed it with, among others, Marian Anderson, Janet Baker and Fischer-Dieskau but only recorded it and the Wayfarer songs with baritone Norman Foster for Vox. Horenstein “found” Foster in Vienna while working on Bach's Brandenburg Concertos (PASC 468) and although he described him as “simply marvelous”, they never again collaborated following the present recordings. Possessor of a deep, rich, well-supported voice with good diction but a somewhat limited upper range, Foster delivers dark, vibrant performances of Mahler's two song cycles that also highlight many characteristic features of Horenstein’s style: clarity of texture, subtle rubatos and a seemingly effortless coordination of details within the larger musical form. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMisha Horenstein\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab1_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fFull Track Listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5ftrack_listing578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 24px;\"\u003eJASCHA HORENSTEIN conducts MAHLER\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDISC ONE\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eMAHLER  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eKindertotenlieder\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. 1. Nun will die Sonn' so hell aufgeh'n   (5:37)\u003cbr\u003e2. 2. Nun seh' ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen  (4:45)\u003cbr\u003e3. 3. Wenn dein Mütterlein  (5:02)\u003cbr\u003e4. 4. Oft denk' ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen  (3:03)\u003cbr\u003e5. 5. In diesem Wetter  (6:55)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eMAHLER  Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e6. 1. Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht  (3:27)\u003cbr\u003e7. 2. Ging heut morgen übers Feld  (4:10)\u003cbr\u003e8. 3. Ich hab' ein glühend Messer  (3:03)\u003cbr\u003e9. 4. Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz  (5:06)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNorman Foster\u003c\/b\u003e (baritone)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBamberg Symphony Orchestra\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003econducted by\u003cb\u003e Jascha Horenstein\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded at Dominikanerbau, Bamberg, Germany, mid-September 1954\u003cbr\u003eEngineer: Ward Botsford\u003cbr\u003eOriginally released as VOX PL 9100\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 18px;\"\u003eMAHLER  Symphony No. 3\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eErste Abtheilung\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e10. 1st mvt. - Kräftig, Entschieden  (30:03)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDISC TWO\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eZweite Abtheilung\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1. 2nd mvt. - Tempo di Minuetto  (8:41)\u003cbr\u003e2. 3rd mvt. - Comodo, Scherzando. Ohne Hast  (16:18)\u003cbr\u003e3. 4th mvt. - Sehr Langsam. Misterioso. Durchaus Leise  (8:46)\u003cbr\u003e4. 5th mvt. - Lustig im Tempo und keck im Ausdruck  (4:03)\u003cbr\u003e5. 6th mvt. - Langsam, Ruhevoll. Empfunden  (21:40)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHelen Watts\u003c\/b\u003e (contralto)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDennis Egan\u003c\/b\u003e (posthorn)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDenis Wick\u003c\/b\u003e (trombone)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHighgate School Choir, Orpington Junior Singers, London Symphony Chorus\u003cbr\u003eLondon Symphony Orchestra\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003econducted by \u003cb\u003eJascha Horenstein\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRecorded live, Royal Festival Hall., London, 16 November 1961 \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eXR remastering by\u003cb\u003e Andrew Rose\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCover artwork based on a photograph of \u003cb\u003eJascha Horenstein\u003c\/b\u003e by Photo Tornow, Lausanne from the archive of \u003cb\u003eMisha Horenstein\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cbr\u003eSpecial thanks to \u003cb\u003eDr. Klaus Holzapfel\u003c\/b\u003e for copies of BBC Transciption discs of Symphony No. 3\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTotal duration:  \u003cb\u003e2hr 10:39\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab2_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fCover Art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcover_art578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/thumbs\/PASC565.jpg578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcovers\/PASC565.pdf578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab3_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fConcert Review578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFine Account of Symphony: Mahler's Third at Festival Hall\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThe Times, 17 November 1961\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nAt the beginning of this year, Mahler's third symphony had never been\nperformed in this country at a concert. In the last nine months it has had\ntwo performances in London: the first, in February, was a brave, wholly\nadmirable but not wholly satisfying, semi-amateur one; last night this\nlong, extremely difficult and idiosyncratic work, a collation of everything\nthat Mahler burned to communicate, was at last performed by a major British\norchestra in the Festival Hall\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThe London Symphony Orchestra presented and played it under Mr. Jascha\nHorenstein. who clearly knows and loves it from the inside of the music\noutward, and who unfolded a deeply sympathetic conception with\nextraordinarily moving power.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nMr. Horenstein is a conductor, it seems, whose real quality is only\ndiscerned when the mood fires him: and it does not always yield fire.\nMahler, on the evidence, strikes the spark for him more regularly than any\nother composer. This was certainly the most convincingly-felt reading that\nwe have heard from him during his present visit, and his earlier work with\nthe London Symphony Orchestra had established a responsiveness that\nrealized the spirit as well as the letter of his, and Mahler's demands.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nMahler's music is so precariously poised on the verge of articulate speech\nthat a performing style, in which anguished cantabile and wild, terse\noutbursts and cheerful (sometimes not so cheerful) folk tunes cohere\ninstead of contradicting one another, is not quickly achieved. The L.S.O.\nseems to be finding such a style, partly through experience under stylish\nMahler conductors, partly through knowledge of the music from which\nMahler's descends.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThe flora and fauna of the intermezzi were delightfully characterized, with\nsmart rhythmical articulation, but there was also the essential depth and\nintensity of sound for the heavenward-turned final Adagio.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nIf Mr. Horenstein's reading was at any point to be questioned it could be\nin the enormous opening movement: not because the introduction was taken at\na brisk tempo—this was structurally advantageous—but because the climax of\nthe development was reined too heavily for the eventual return of the\nopening horn-call which should follow more spontaneously than it did here.\nOver the span of the whole symphony this blemish seems to have been a minor\none. Mr. Horenstein, and his forces which included Miss Helen Watts in\nappealing voice, the Highgate School Choir and Orpington Junior Singers, as\nwell as ladies from the L.S.O. Chorus, spoke eloquently for Mahler.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab4_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_labelfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fHistoric Record Reviews578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_typefb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fcontent578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_contentfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f\u003cp\u003eREVIEWS OF 2014 RELEASE ON ARCHIPEL RECORDS OF MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 3\u003cbr\u003e(The Mahler was coupled with Brahms for that particular release - these reviews are unedited)\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSometimes you come to appreciate some of the conducting legends of the past\nwhen you have first listened to one of the conducting duds of the present,\nand that was my experience with this Mahler Third. I had just suffered\n(yes, I believe that is the precise word) through Carla Delfrate butchering\nthe music of French opera composers when I put on this Mahler Third. The\ndifference in musical intelligence, feeling, phrasing, rhythmic lift, and\ncorrectly judged tempos was like escaping the River Styx and being elevated\nto Valhalla.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nYet even without such a quantum leap in conducting quality, one cannot\nescape the feeling that this Mahler Third was indeed one of the great, even\nmomentous, concerts of the 20th century. Shockingly for such a late date,\nthis was its first professional performance in England, and those familiar\nwith Horenstein’s work will know that the British were extremely lucky to\nhave him for this concert. Just about the only negative thing one can note\nabout this recording is the somewhat dry mono sound—good for a 1961\nbroadcast (indeed, better than Horenstein’s equally legendary Mahler\nEighth) but still restricted in sonics. But heavens, what a performance! I\nactually think that Horenstein’s performance of the first movement even\noutstrips that of Georg Solti, which up until now was my all-time favorite\nreading of it, largely due to the more finely detailed layering of the\ninstrumental texture. Despite the boxiness, you hear everything, and every\ninstrument or instrumental group seems to have something important to add\nto the overall “story” of the music. Nor was I alone in my reaction: At the\nend of the movement, the London audience does something highly\nuncharacteristic for the British at an orchestral concert: they roundly\napplaud the first movement. It’s quite an achievement, and it seems almost\nincredible that this is its first-ever commercial release.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nMoreover, unlike Solti (and even unlike his Nonesuch studio recording of\nthis Symphony with the same orchestra), Horenstein’s intensity and musical\ndrive never slacken in this performance, not even for a millisecond. Seldom\nhave I heard the second movement played so exquisitely, the strings singing\nsweetly and the rhythmic underpinning simply astonishing. Many years ago,\nbefore I began reviewing, I bought, heard, and was disappointed by James\nLevine’s Mahler Third recording, and I was only slightly more impressed by\na live performance he gave with Jessye Norman as the mezzo soloist in\nCarnegie Hall. I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong with it, but this\nHorenstein performance has everything right about it that Levine simply got\nwrong. Perhaps too much “devotion,” too much psychoanalyzing Mahler at the\ntime he wrote it, and too little of just digging into the score and\ntranslating it into sound? It’s hard to say at the remove of 40 years, but\nlet’s just say that Horenstein has the full measure of this Symphony while\nLevine only had a fair idea of it.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nNow, one should be aware that Horenstein’s view of the score is not always\n100 percent what Mahler wrote. He sometimes ignores tempo changes and gives\nhis own spin on the music, but to my ears everything he does in this\nperformance works well. Not to keep beating the same drum, but that first\nmovement is an excellent example. In the studio recording, it went along at\nan almost dirge-like pace; here, it is utterly dynamic and thrilling. In\nboth the studio and live versions, the posthorn solo is beautifully played\nby Dennis Egan, and this is one moment in this broadcast where the sonics\nare good enough to give the listener a fine sense of “space.” Helen Watts’s\nsinging is rich and beautiful, although not quite as expressive in detail\nas Janet Baker with Michael Tilson Thomas (Sony-CBS) or Ewa Podleś with\nAntoni Wit (Naxos), my other two favorite Mahler Thirds. The Highgate\nSchool Choir is superb, having that sound that one somehow instinctively\nassociates with British children’s choirs. Horenstein’s tempo in the last\nmovement is brisk when compared to other Mahlerians (21:13 compared to\nTilson Thomas’s 26:13 or Wit’s 25:31), which some listeners may interpret\nas a race to the finish on Horenstein’s part, but just listen to the\nfeeling he elicits from the LSO; and, at this clip, the movement lacks its\nusual “draggy” feeling, as if it were an interminable exercise in bathos.\nNow, of course, it can and does also work well at the slower tempos that\nTilson Thomas and Wit use, but that is the magic of Mahler. His symphonies,\nunlike almost any others I can think of, can withstand nearly any and every\ntempo change one can put into them. The only thing they cannot withstand is\na boring reading, and boring is not a word one can apply to this\nperformance.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nAs a bonus (since the entire Third Symphony clocks in at a few seconds\nunder 90 minutes) we age given an equally spectacular reading of the Brahms\nPiano Concerto No. 1 with Claudio Arrau as soloist. My readers know that I\nlike but do not really love Arrau as a pianist; everything he played was\ngood and usually had the right style, but many of his performances and\nrecordings are no better than those of several other pianists. Here,\nhowever, he truly sounds caught up in the moment, not least due to\nHorenstein’s exquisite shaping and phrasing of the music. Although I still\nlove Fritz Reiner’s dynamic 1954 account with Rubinstein and Max Fiedler’s\nold-world and slightly eccentric (but still musical) performance from the\nearly 1930s (with Alfred Hoehn as soloist), there is just something so\nshapely and well-phrased about Horenstein’s reading of the orchestral part\nthat it grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. Arrau takes a while to\nheat up—his entrance is played very well but not with any particular\nabandon, but then just listen to the way he responds with both remarkable\nfire and stunning nuance to the equally nuanced playing of the French Radio\nand TV Orchestra. The best way to describe this performance, overall, is as\nan alternation of a singing line with ebb and flow against the dramatic\noutbursts, the latter never dull but also never so explosive that they ruin\nthe line of the music. Oh, there are many of those among our young\nconductors today who could learn a thing or three from Horenstein about\nphrasing! True, the strings in the last movement sound a little scrappy,\nbut no matter. The musical treatment and intensity of this performance\ntrumps technical polish.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nArchipel provides absolutely no liner notes with this release, not even a\nsentence or two to tell prospective buyers who Jascha Horenstein was. Even\nthough I know that a recording like this is aimed at the collectors’\nmarket, that very few people will bother with a 53-year-old mono recording\nof the Mahler Third when they can get digital stereo from Tilson Thomas,\nWit, or the late Claudio Abbado (another outstanding version), but I still\nfeel that the label owes it to those few who are under age 30 and buy this\nrelease to let them know who Horenstein was and explain his importance.\nOtherwise, I recommend this set highly.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLynn René Bayley (Fanfare Magazine 37:5, May\/June 2014)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nJascha Horenstein, one of the great conductors of the 20th century, was\nunaccountably neglected by the major record labels. Most of his studio\nrecordings appeared on the Vox label. RCA recorded a few Horenstein\nperformances to be issued by Readers’ Digest Records, and in his last years\nhe made some recordings for the small British Unicorn label. Fortunately,\nhis discography has been augmented by the release on CD of many concert\nperformances, and any addition to this treasure trove is cause for\ncelebration, especially if it is of the quality of this 1961 performance of\nMahler’s Third Symphony. Horenstein was especially renowned as a Mahler\ninterpreter, and this release certainly makes clear why that was. Separated\nfrom his fine 1970 studio recording for Unicorn by a substantial period of\ntime, it is consistently quicker than the later performance but never\nrushed, and it is superbly articulated and shaped. (For more detailed\ninformation on the performance, I refer readers to Lynn René Bayley’s rave\nreview in Fanfare 37:5.) The set includes as a bonus a performance of the\nBrahms Piano Concerto No. 1 with none other than Claudio Arrau as soloist\n(what a bonus!). In a way, this performance is even more valuable than the\nMahler, since the concerto does not otherwise appear in Horenstein’s\ndiscography. The Archipel label specializes in historical recordings and\nputs them out by the bushel, for low prices but often with slipshod\nprocessing. This release is an exception, with sound that is very good for\nearly 1960s broadcast material that presumably does not derive directly\nfrom the radio archives. The sound is clear and reasonably well balanced,\nwithout the sharply peaked treble that has disfigured some other Archipel\nreleases.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThis CD preserves a “never before released” live recording of the first\nprofessional British performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony in 1961. It was\ngiven under the baton of Jascha Horenstein, who did much to spearhead the\nrevival of the composer’s music during the 1960s. In 1970, three years\nbefore his death, Horenstein returned to the score for a famous studio\nrecording of the same work with the same orchestra as here. That version on\nUnicorn remained as one of the principal recommendations both on LP and CD\nfor many years.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThis live performance does not get off to a very promising start, with a\nfluffed note from one of the horns on the very opening beat, and it cannot\nbe pretended that the sound is anything like as good as on Horenstein’s\nstudio recording, with the low brass at 1.02 growling rather indistinctly.\nThat said, the internal balance of the orchestra is good, and they deliver\nthe music with the real joy of players discovering a new and unfamiliar\nscore. The CD insert — it would be unduly charitable to call it a booklet —\ngives no information at all regarding either the music or its performance,\nbut the acoustics are rather dry and leads one to deduce that the venue was\nthe Royal Festival Hall; the 1970 recording was made in Fairfield Halls.\nThe solo violin at 4.45 is placed very forward in the mono sound, which\nleads me to suspect close microphone placement presumably originating from\na broadcast source. Dennis — spelt Denis on the CD cover credit — Wick’s\ntrombone solo at 5.55 is very stentorian; the same player was more nuanced\nin 1970. Later on the internal balance of the orchestra becomes less than\nideal, with the chirruping and squawking woodwind at 20.00 badly masked by\nthe brass and what sounds suspiciously like panic-stricken recording\nengineers reducing recording levels. Unexpectedly the audience bursts in\nwith applause at the end of the movement; maybe at the original concert the\ninterval was taken at this point.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThe second movement, with its much lighter scoring, produces fewer problems\nfor the engineers. In the third movement Mahler wrote an extensive solo for\nan offstage brass instrument which he originally designated for the\nflugelhorn. In later revisions he changed the description of the instrument\nto “posthorn”, but this seems to have been a purely poetic change of title\nand the part is invariably played on the flugelhorn – as in Horenstein’s\n1970 recording – although on the CD cover it is stated that Dennis Egan\nplays a posthorn. The balance between the offstage instrument and the\nonstage players is not ideal, but it does not appear that Egan manages all\nthe notes with total accuracy, and there is a horrible trumpet error at\n15.43 which sticks out like a sore thumb. Horenstein makes no pause before\nthe fourth movement — the audience coughing between the second and third\nmovements is given full measure — but the entry of Helen Watts is sheer\nbalm. She recorded the part again in the studio for Solti some years later,\nin what is otherwise an unpleasantly blatant reading; Solti re-made the\nwork for his complete Chicago cycle. Here in the very earliest days of her\nnotable career she is firm as a rock and as implacable as granite in her\ndeclamation of Nietzsche’s Midnight Song from Zarathustra. And thankfully\nHorenstein has no truck with the exaggerated portamento in the woodwind\nphrases which Mahler may possibly have intended to imitate the wood birds\nof the night but which sound horribly and inauthentically modern in other\nperformances. The orchestral deep brass sound murkier than might be ideal,\nand there are a couple of horn notes that are not perfectly steady; but\nthis are minor blemishes in an enchanting performance.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nUnfortunately there is a CD break between the fourth and fifth movements —\nMahler asks that they should be played continuously — but this does avoid\nthe sudden interruption in mood which would otherwise have been perpetrated\nby the very loud and forwardly-placed bells at the beginning of the Knaben\nWunderhorn song. The choirs on the other hand are rather backward and far\nfrom distinct – although noticeably below pitch at 1.49 – but Watts is once\nagain a tower of strength. This is a difficult movement to bring off in\nperformance, and it is at this point in the recording that one is aware of\na lack of familiarity with the score. The solemn entry of the strings at\nthe beginning of the last movement brings a real sense of engagement even\nthough the violin tone could be warmer. It is nice to hear the period style\nin the use of string portamento as specified by Mahler, an effect which\nbecame unfashionable for a time but is an essential part of the composer’s\nsense of line. Horenstein sometimes presses forward in a manner which he\navoided in his later recording, but not beyond the bounds of acceptability;\nand although another trumpet glitch in the chorale theme at 16.09 is most\nunfortunate, Horenstein generates a real sense of white heat in the closing\npages. The audience cheers at the end are well deserved.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nHorenstein does not appear to have changed his view of the score much over\nthe years; comparisons of timings in the movements show the first three\nrather slower on Unicorn nine years later, while the last three are\nslightly quicker. Overall he took some seven minutes longer over the score\nin 1970, a fairly minimal difference in a work of this length. Those who\nwant to hear his interpretation of Mahler’s Third Symphony will gravitate\ntowards the better sound and less accident-prone playing in 1970. But they\nwill have to sacrifice Watts’s singing of the alto solos, richer and more\nnuanced than Norma Procter on Unicorn. On the other hand the singing in\n1970 of the Wandsworth School Boys’ Choir and the Ambrosian Singers in the\nfifth movement is more assured and better balanced than the assembled\nchoral forces were in 1961.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nThe Unicorn issue however comes without any coupling spread over two CDs,\nwhile here we are also given a very substantial bonus in the shape of\nClaudio Arrau’s performance of the Brahms First Piano Concerto again with\nHorenstein conducting. Although the reading has plenty of fire from the\nopening bars, the recorded sound is much less satisfactory than in the\nMahler with the orchestral playing decidedly thin in places, and the\nacoustic is unpleasantly boxy in the tutti passages. Recording engineers in\nthe studio were getting much better results at this period. Mercifully\nArrau is not placed too forward in the recorded balance, and we get a good\nimpression of the sound of his piano. At this stage in his career Arrau was\na more volatile and less monumental player than he became in his later\nyears, and he forms a dramatic partner for Horenstein who – as in his\ncontemporary recordings with Earl Wild of the Rachmaninov concertos – is a\nsympathetic accompanist. But the horn in the first movement at 9.31 is a\nparticularly bad example of the weak and watery tone of French instruments\nat this period, sounding for all the world like a tremulous saxophone. If\nyou like this sort of ‘national’ style of playing, you’ll love it; although\nyou may be less impressed with the squeeze-box effect of the woodwind at\nthe beginning of the slow movement. This was clearly a very great\nperformance indeed, with which one is delighted to make acquaintance; but\nthe orchestra and the recorded sound do rather let the side down.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan class=\"_5yl5\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePaul Corfield Godfrey, Musicweb International, July 2014\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_cover_thumbnail1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_cover_thumbnail2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_cover_download_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_sample1_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_sample2_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_sample3_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_sample4_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_sample5_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f578a9379d1e540bd96d26f03a79628d9tab5_sample6_s3_locationfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5f","brand":"Pristine Classical","offers":[{"title":"Ambient Stereo 24-bit FLAC","offer_id":55010078294382,"sku":"sxn1789306307258","price":27.85,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Ambient Stereo 16-bit FLAC","offer_id":55010078327150,"sku":"ufp1789306307259","price":16.85,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"320kbps Ambient Stereo MP3","offer_id":55010078359918,"sku":"xic1789306307260","price":13.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0915\/3986\/5966\/files\/horenstein-conducts-mahler-symphony-no-3-lieder-195461---pasc565_1.jpg?v=1789306346","url":"https:\/\/www.harborviewgoods.shop\/products\/horenstein-conducts-mahler-symphony-no-3-lieder-195461-pasc565","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}