Musical epiphany - delivered by cans.

Discussion in 'Classical Music' started by alanbeeb, Jul 11, 2004.

  1. alanbeeb

    alanbeeb Grumpy young fogey

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    Mahler 7 & Musical epiphany - delivered by cans.

    Folks - just had a bit of a musical epiphany.... beeb junior gone to bed, don't want to annoy neighbours so strapped my trusty Sennheiser HD600s to my ears, and decided to try some fancy power cable on my headphone amp.

    the cable was loaned to me by the same dealer whose DAC64 I've still got on loan until they can find the time to pick it up.

    Anyway, I played the first movement of Mahler 7, Chicago SO/Abbado on DG. Blimey :D It sounded like the orchestra streteched out 30ft either side of me. What an absolutely stonking recording, and superb performance! Sir Simon's is left eating dust.... shame I don't care much for the remaining four movements! :)

    Before I was very sceptical about power cables, now I know this one made a difference. I'm not going to buy their DAC64 as its just too expensive (but very good) so maybe will spend a little bit of money on power cables.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 14, 2004
    alanbeeb, Jul 11, 2004
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  2. alanbeeb

    tones compulsive cantater

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    Really wrong bit of the forum for this , Alan, but are you sure that it was the power cable that made this difference? Nothing to do with you being relaxed and in a good frame of mind after beeb jr had been consigned to bed, and attributing this good feeling and enhanced experience to a bit of wire? I have tried exotic power cable on everything and I noticed not one iota of difference. But, if it does it for you, I for one am not going to object.
     
    tones, Jul 12, 2004
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  3. alanbeeb

    alanbeeb Grumpy young fogey

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    I was as completely unconvinced by power cables until last night.

    Yes, probably wrong forum.... but we could talk about favourite Mahler 7th interpretations! The Abbado/CSO certainly works for me, maybe it will even persuade me to like the four remaining movements. Will try tonight.
     
    alanbeeb, Jul 12, 2004
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  4. alanbeeb

    GrahamN

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    Your post reads as if this is a recording new to you - so the obvious question is did you try it under the same conditions with your old power cable too?

    But on the more interesting stuff - this is the older studio recording right? I've seen rave reviews about Abbado's recent live recording too, which I may well get (I have his recent live 3 which I find is quite overwhelming). I only have that 7 by Rattle ATM, and find I almost never listen to it. This may have been the first Rattle record I listened to where I was wowed by each individual bar, but the whole just made no sense at all. I've since found exactly the same with his much vaunted Mahler 2, and all snippets I've heard of his recent stuff. Basically he's now off my shopping list (although I'll probably still go to his Beethoven 9 prom this year).

    I'm actually finding now that I really go for live recordings, e.g. Bernstein's 1&5, Karajan's 9, Wand's Bruckner 4 and 8. For these monumental works the live recordings all seem to have just so much more involvement and sense of moment, and modern technology seems to have worked out how to capture the sound with remarkable vividness (as evidenced by the Abbado 3 and those Wand recordings). Still not convinced by LSO Live recordings though - although I've just got the Davis/Zimmerman recording of Harold en Italie to give them another go (it was a pretty good concert).
     
    GrahamN, Jul 12, 2004
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  5. alanbeeb

    alanbeeb Grumpy young fogey

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    No - I've had the CD for about 10 years. Its Abbado's mid 1980s Chicago recording. Haven't heard the live BPO one.

    I did try going back to the original cable and I am sure there was less sense of space.

    I had the original issue on 2 cds but lost one of them after a house move, so bought it again when it was released on a mid-price single CD. I've also got the Rattle recording and its no great shakes.

    I'm kind of rediscovering Mahler again.... when I first got into classical music in my early twenties I overdosed on Mahler and then went off him for a few years, and listened to more objective music more often - Bach, Brahms, Sibelius etc. Whenever I did listen to anything by him it was usually just one movement at a time, not whole symphonies. I still often find there is too much uncontrolled over-emoting in his music but I am gradually getting to like it again. I never stopped liking "Das Lied" and the 9th Symphony. Over last few months I have not been able to get enough of the third symphony... maybe its the most objective of them, despite its sprawling size. The recent Boulez recording is very good, the first and last movement are perfectly done, perfect tempos played straight down the line, really lets the last movement sing without any kind of artifice or impediment to the natural flow of the music. The inner movements are just a bit too cool though.

    I have mixed views of live recordings. I have not liked any of the LSO live recordings, either as performances or recordings - very thin and flat sounding. I couldn't understand the fuss about Rostropovich's Shostakovich 11 - I found it totally lacking in energy or tension. My main problem with a lot of live recordings I've heard is the sound quality, I find it can sometimes get in the way of enjoyment. A case in point would be Rattle's VPO Mahler 9, I think it could have been great but sound is unconvincing.

    I agree the Bernstein live Mahler sets are very good - have you heard the VPO sixth - the first two movement are stunning, and vividly recorded. Boulez Bruckner 8th with VPO is also superb, even with odd sound, and is now my favourite from about 6 recordings on the shelf.

    I think that Studio recordings are still valid as a means of allowing the artists to set down their considered thoughts on a piece of music. I reckon the growing fashion for live recordings is probably as much to do with saving money as artistic choice. its just too expensive to pay for studio recordings. I wonder how many classical recordings actually turn a profit?
     
    alanbeeb, Jul 12, 2004
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  6. alanbeeb

    Ted

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    Interesting neither of you like the LSO live recordings. I've been toying with getting their Peter Grimes after seeing such stonking reviews of it. And it's cheap.

    I also have the Rattle recording of Mahler 7. Curiously, I rarely listen to it either. I hadn't thought about this before, but it's probably the only Mahler I have that I don't listen to regularly. Then again, what do I know, I love the Sinopolli recordings of 4 and 5 (and I've yet to meet someone who agrees with me!) I still like Kaplan's second, Bernstein's 1st, Abbado's 8th, and as a result have yet to experiment with many other recordings. Perhaps based on this post I should give Abbado's 7 a go....
     
    Ted, Jul 13, 2004
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  7. alanbeeb

    alanbeeb Grumpy young fogey

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    I have also heard Georg Solti's Mahler 7 from early 80's - it was jolly good too...surprising for me as I've never been too impressed with any of Solti's other recordings, finding them mostly too hard driven. Not sure if this recording is still available.
     
    alanbeeb, Jul 13, 2004
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  8. alanbeeb

    sid

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    Just listened to Mahler 6, LSO live with Mariss Jansons, and am also a little unconvinced. One problem seems to be the flat acoustic of the Barbican, or is it that extraneous noise has been too efficiently filtered out. The contrast with Gardiner's Beethoven 5 live in Barcelona is quite striking - a real sense of space although with slightly increased audience noise.

    Can anyone recommend another recording of Mahler 6?

    Sid
     
    sid, Jul 13, 2004
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  9. alanbeeb

    alanbeeb Grumpy young fogey

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    Bernstein/VPO on DG - superb quality live recording, really vivid sound. The performance is stunning in the first two movements, really cracks along. But the last two movements seem to lose focus, the long finale doesn't really hold together.

    Karajan/Berlin Phil - one of the few Karajan performances I like. less visceral than Bernstein and not quite as good sound quality, but really tugs the heartstrings in third movement and keeps the finale going in one continuous narrative sweep that is completely convincing.
     
    alanbeeb, Jul 14, 2004
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