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Discussion: Mahler: Symphony No. 1 - Honeck

Posts: 10

Post by hiredfox November 17, 2011 (1 of 10)
With the benefit of DSD recording Exton have not always delivered the goods in recording quality, often delighting their fans but all too frequently disappointing more impartial listeners. Very much the curate's egg.

With this new Mahler recording they have come up trumps with a recording of rare quality that will satisfy even their most ardent critics. It is superb in every respect, in stereo essentially flawless and very much state-of-the-art.

Even acknowledging the superb acoustics of The Heinz Hall this recording is rather special and will still astonish many with it's superbly accurate tonal and spatial realism of this live recording. It is such a complete transformation in form that this listener would not be surprised at the involvement of the Sound Mirror team, although there is no evidence of that presented in the booklet - then again my Japanese leaves rather a lot to be desired. The notes say manufactured and mastered in Japan but is silent on recording detail.

The performance is simply electric, Honeck seemingly having cracked Mahler from the get-go, all of the drama, emotion and tension is satisfyingly measured throughout. With very fine support indeed from the Pittsburgh players Honeck has very clearly made his mark in the sand. For those who think they have collected enough Mahler to last their lifetimes, I say "Think again". This promises to be one of the very best cycles yet and this listener for one cannot wait for the next instalments...

...and "Yes" it is stereo only and "Yes" it does have very much appreciated applause (no shouters) and "Yes" that HQ sticker on the cover means what it says.

Post by hiredfox November 18, 2011 (2 of 10)
Arnaldo said:

This reads very much like a review, so why not post it as one instead? Insightful observations are more useful in the context of a review, including performance and sonic ratings. Actually, this is a common pattern here, with interesting analyses getting lost in the forum, while a large number of one-liners get posted as reviews...

Thanks for comment. I didn't think it quite explicit enough to offer as a review - others do it much better - but will follow your advice.

John

Post by hiredfox November 20, 2011 (3 of 10)
Contacts in the UK tell me that Mark Donohue (Sound Mirror) was indeed the recording engineer for this disc.

I feel somewhat vindicated in suggesting Exton had not done this alone but rather uncomfortable in correctly attributing the sound to Sound Mirror - it rather suggests that Sound Mirror have a very recognisable - even if subconscious - house sound carried over from their Telarc days.

The good news is that they will be involved in the Exton Pittsburgh recordings which must be good news for all Telarc and Exton fans and SACD in general.

It will be interesting to see how they get on with the new Tchaikovsky Symphony 5...

Interested to hear Teresa's comments on this disc?

Post by DSD November 20, 2011 (4 of 10)
hiredfox said:

...it rather suggests that Sound Mirror have a very recognisable - even if subconscious - house sound carried over from their Telarc days.

Interested to hear Teresa's comments on this disc?

I don't believe Sound Mirror ever engineered any Telarc recordings. The stateside recordings were mostly engineered Jack Renner and Michael Bishop, and most Telarc European recordings were engineered by Polyhymnia.

I am sorry but I am burned-out on Mahler, so I won't be getting this one no matter how great it sounds.

Post by SteelyTom January 13, 2012 (5 of 10)
Thanks to comments here and in other threads about Honeck's Mahler cycle, I've pre-ordered the Fifth (its release date, per Allegro, is 2/14). I've got Sound Mirror's Alpine Symphony with Janowski/PSO, which is a beautifully-performed and -engineered recording.

Post by breydon_music January 14, 2012 (6 of 10)
SteelyTom said:

Thanks to comments here and in other threads about Honeck's Mahler cycle, I've pre-ordered the Fifth (its release date, per Allegro, is 2/14). I've got Sound Mirror's Alpine Symphony with Janowski/PSO, which is a beautifully-performed and -engineered recording.

Given that the Fifth has been out in Japan for a while now, and Exton's inconsistency re applause in this series (1 has applause, 3 and 4 don't), can anyone yet confirm whether or not there's applause on the Fifth please?

Post by fausto K January 14, 2012 (7 of 10)
breydon_music said:

1 has applause, 3 and 4 don't

I suppose you don't read Gramophone, where the 4th got a very favourable review. David Hurwitz's review in Classics Today was even more positive: 10/10 and his French counterpart Christophe Huss ditto, who was less positive though about the 3rd, especially sound-wise. Of the 3rd I have seen a positive review (****/*****) in the BBC Music Magazine. Well, it's all (relatively) subjective of course

Post by SteelyTom January 14, 2012 (8 of 10)
Gramaphone gave his Third a great review, too. Still, I gather Honeck is controversial in Mahler-- some seem to find him fussy and willful. I feel like pre-ordering this is a bit of the roll of the dice.

Post by fausto K January 14, 2012 (9 of 10)
SteelyTom said:

Gramaphone gave his Third a great review, too. Still, I gather Honeck is controversial in Mahler-- some seem to find him fussy and willful. I feel like pre-ordering this is a bit of the roll of the dice.

I had forgotten how glowing that review of the Third was. "In sonic terms this is right up there with Chailly's Decca-engineered version as the most ear-popping in the current catalogue". That's quite some praise! I haven't yet compared the two, but I must say that the Honeck is impressive indeed, not least interpretively - as is the case for his M4 and especially M1, which is in a league of its own. I'm sure his M5 won't disappoint.

Post by Euell Neverno July 12, 2012 (10 of 10)
Having been much impressed with the Exton recording of Honeck's Mahler 3, although somewhat less so with the Mahler 5, and based upon the commentary here and elsewhere, I acquired Honeck's Mahler 1. What a surprise this was ! To some it is fussy (mannered?) with unusual tempos and tempo changes just the beginning. It's different; that's for sure. But I liked it, even though it will get some taking used to. I am not a score peeper, so critiques of the interpretation will have to come from others, but Honeck and Pittsburgh definitely score as to original interpretation. The applause at the end shows that the audience was thrilled and so was I. Demonstration stereo sound rounds out this recommendation.

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