Mahler 3: Jansons/Royal Concertgebouw, Fink. 2010 broadcast of a great performance

Gustav Mahler

Symphony No.3

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Mariss Jansons, conductor

Bart Claessen (trombone), Liviu Prunaru (violin), Frits Damrow (Trumpet)

Bernarda Fink, mezzosoprano

Boyschoir Rijnmond, Sacramentskoor Breda

Groot Omroepkoor

February 5th, 2010

Concertgebouw, Amsterdam

169.91 MB in a .zip folder containing four mp3 files, 'art' and text with information inside. See comments.

This thanks to an upload by Epicóndilo, of the foroactivo Mahler tribe

I think I can make up for the excising of Martinon's Mahler 3 links now.

This Mahler Symphony no. 3 is worth strapping good sound on for (even though the 192 kbps original bitrate does little to support that thought), in part for the detail that Jansons has been able to bring to surface and for the tempos he sustains. How the thing is kept moving so inexorably forward, with that special sense of occasion that marks great performances, is a feat that can only be properly explained in the doing. It is done here. Press play & listen, read no more. But if you must-

Jens Laurson of musicweb has a review of the live event which shows unhappiness with this crew, panning the performance from the night before, Feb 4. The present mp3s record a different night, and a different story. The last of a triumvirate of M3 offerings, I think the Concertgebouw was back in fighting shape for this one, if the musicweb reviewer was right about an off-night just 24 hours earlier.

There's a sequence, a set piece in the final movement which is particularly telling, that came though the headphones at 3AM the first time I listened carefully to this recording. It had not been apparent to me before! [This may be just a confession of heathenness] The movement, which is originally named "What Love Tells Me", has within it a solo violin phrase which blooms supported by the orchestra, is repeated by its cohorts, then again by a larger swath of orchestral textures against the evolving backdrop. The phrase comes back beautifully in various guises thereafter, but I had not been as struck by the concerto-like moment of the soloist until now. This is true even though the violin is sonically set back quite a bit here, and ends up having more room (reverb) around it; it ended up highlighting the experience to me.

Enjoy!

Guillermo