Of course since Bruno Walter was pretty much the disciple of Mahler, worked and studied with Mahler, and was instrumental in championing those works. I'd have to believe Dr. Walter had a pretty good idea of what Mahler intended with his symphonies. Better than the sheer bombast of today. Also, Walter's interpretations changed-sometimes dramatically-over his life. If one listens to the Vienna Philharmonic recording of #9 (1938) and the Columbia recording of 1962 there are many lifetimes of experiences coloring the latter including the death of his own daughter in 1942 (I think). In the end, Walter would only conduct a few of Mahler symphonies, primarily 1, 2, 4, 5, 9. Those I think had the most philosophical importance for him. Many of those recordings are worth listening to even if the audio quality is not up to today's sterile standards.
That said, there is room for any well thought out interpretation in my opinion. My issue with many current conductors is that they fail to maintain the arc and arch of the emotional impact from the first note to the last. The overall intent is destroyed by too much bombast in the effort to play everything equally overwrought. Having played some Mahler under Solti's baton I can say with certainty that there was plenty of excitement combined with a musical plan. It wasn't all about being loud. The Jack Attack! On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 11:00 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > Send Horn mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > I have always found the Bruno Walter recording to be fascinating, but not very > satisfying. The approach is vastly different from most more-recent > performances. Most striking for me is that the whole production is far less > powerful and bombastic. In general, this performance does not sustain loud > sections nearly as much. Also, the audio quality is very poor, which can make > it difficult to enjoy. _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
