Mahler, Symphony No.8 (Finale) - Franz Welser Möst / Vienna Philharmonic 

OMG 💔

Oh no!

Just had my heartbroken.

Erin Wall was a magnificent artist. She was THE "go-to" girl for the almost impossibly difficult "pole position" role of Soprano #1 in this symphony, literally ALL over the world, for almost two decades. I will NEVER forget both she, and Elza van den Heever (singing soprano #2) openly weeping by the end of this magnificent symphony when it was done under Tilson Thomas with the SFO, so overcome were they by the beauty and magnificence of it all.

RIP

I think it would be hard not to. I've been to concerts in that hall. The amplitude of Mahler 8 in there must have been just unbelievable. And when you're up on the conductor's podium, all that sound is in your face. Think about it: in addition to an enlarged brass section, you have a fortissimo roll happening in the bass drum and both sets of timpani. In addition, the pipe organ is roaring like a 727 on takeoff. With those huge tam-tam smashes (gong) thrown in for good measure, it must have been have overwhelming.

As I'm fighting back yawns.

Most est un peu trop "legato" à mon goût dans ses interprétations, bien que cette finale de Mahler soit une exception.

meiner Meinung nach die beste, die es auf RU-vid gibt! Die Tempi sind genau richtig.

Agreed but here in the U.S. most kids won't give five minutes of their time nor could they care less EITHER!

@Scott Miller , I disagree with you. You can't just plop them down and expect them to listen to a full Mahler symphony, you have to build up to it. When I was in college, I took music 101, to fill an elective requirement. Now I already liked orchestral music, so I figured great this'll be easy. What I wasn't ready for was to hear Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin. As I listened to other genres, I grew to appreciate them as well. The same approach might work with young people. Don't slam them with the big guns right away. Start slowly with pieces they've already heard, but didn't know they had. O Fortuna, from Carmina Burana, the finale of the 1812 Overture, the final movement of the William Tell Overture, Ode to Joy, the Canon in D, maybe even What's Opera Doc. Show them that they've most likely liked certain pieces of "classical" music without even knowing they did. Use various movie soundtracks, Harry Potter, Star Wars/Trek, show them that orchestral music isn't necessarily stuffy, and dead. Then you might have a better chance of getting them to listen to the heavier pieces. The Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra has been releasing shorts on RU-vid, that animate some of the various instruments, mostly the percussion section. They're great teaching tools. Long enough to make their point, and short enough to keep younger people's attention. Another good thing are these musical mash ups. Various pieces, genres, styles, and composers. I find them very entertaining.

Mahler’s music is even hard for lots of adults to understand.

I would agree with you if you included the Resurrection!

@@hillcresthiker Wo what about starting with No.1 that does it for me every time!!!!!

I believe in just the opposite! You must embrace your treasures as much as you can! BTW please include in your list his 5th and 9th!

Reall🤣y?!

I get that feeling a bit, mostly it's when I remember a piece of music that was so good it almost seems too good to be true, and inflated by memory, so I am hesitant to return and be let down haha

Or at least CD! This is amazing.

Were they actually there in person? No camera shot!

@@steveeliscu1254 Just a guess on my part, but when the camera started panning upwards to the dark opening above the organ pipes, I believe that the horns were in that space. 😁

:O)))

Remove the "maybe" and I'll be right with you

@@hillcresthiker I removed the maybe, in my opinion and hopefully many others, Mahler was the Best!!!!!

Also I am hooked on his first no. 1 titan symphony it's my favorite but it has to end with a Boom Boom and that does it for me every time oh Yeah!!!!!

At 78, I have become a believer of that, also. Epic composer for epic and world-shaking times!

Wie wahr!!!

Nonsense

Nope

But none of the talent!

RU-vid

Yes!

Attached is the entire libretto for the 8th Mahler - this performance is the finale "chorus mysticus" shown at the very end of the attached. Hope you can open.

It's Goethe, so it's poetic German. It is to German what Shakespeare is to English. Here's a very plodding, non- poetic translation. "All things transitory are only an allegory. That which is inadequate will be addressed at this event. The indescribable will be achieved. The eternal feminine will lead us ever onward". In German: "alles vergaengliche ist nur ein gleichnis; das unzulaenglich, hier wird's ereignis; das unbeschreibliche, hier ist's getan; das ewig Weibliche, zieht uns hinan". That's pretty close.

@@barryguerrero7652 thank you so much!!!

I believe that they're in the balcony above the organ. It's just too dark to see them. The conductor even is pointing to them at one point.

@@jetglo4001 The offstage brass may be hard to capture on film, but the regular large horn and trumpet section, playing important parts, are not seen. I think some videographers only show trombones because they move more (with slides) and therefore are more interesting to those who only care about action, not music. I've also seen many videos where the trumpets themselves are seen, but never the player's faces.

Some conductors try to give it a sponge-ier, Bruckner like cutoff. Thielemann is one of those. Mahler wrote for a sharp cutoff. You have to admit the tam-tam smashes are pretty spectacular here.

Yes, well, it's too bad they didn't have radio broadcasts and take home recordings in those days. Mahler might have single handedly stopped Austro/German bellicose behavior dead in its tracks, and prevented the First World War in the process (and all the other nonsense that came after it).

I didnt particularly like this interpretation either but your choice of words such as awful, horrible and disgusting is highly inappropriate and do not belong in an adult forum discussing one of the greatest orchestras in the world, playing one of the the great symphonies by the greatest symphonist in history. You really need to tone it down

Ma cosa scrivi? Forse dormi e non ti rendi conto di ciò che il direttore è riuscito a fare. Ha reso la sinfonia in modo perfetto. Taci

Schweig dich! Mahler ist mein Held! Ich liebe fast jede Aufnahme seiner Sinfonien

@@ashleythorpe7933 na und