@@KenBreadbox yep, pretty much. I hate when people throw around stuff like "This was life changing" or "transcendental experience" all the time. But mahler 2 is 100% nothing short of that. It definitely changed my view on what music can be the first time I heard it.
@@KenBreadbox That would be the 3rd. Where Mahler literally tried to do just that: Describe the Universe and his place in it, with all its facets, from inanimate nature to God's love, the way he felt it. The 2nd is trying to give an answer to the meaning of life.
The thing that gets me about conductors is that they know the whole piece, the score for every instrument, know just when to diminish and when to Crescendo, know which instruments need to be drawn to the fore, when a sharp clean dramatic entry needs to be signalled, and get everyone finishing cleanly etc etc.
IM NOT REEEADDYY. For your own personal library, and enjoyment, I cant recommend enough Leonard Bernstein's recording of this (with the New York Philharmonic, for Deutsche Grammophon) to me is the absolute REFERENCE recording of this piece. The most bombastic, solemn, lyrical....ethereal ...it has everything...But I understand the limits of copyright for these performances, sad but...what can you do..( this is a piece YOU MUST come back to, personally, you'll just rediscover and rediscover...it becomes family, comfort and solace...)
I got to play this on my final college orchestra concert just a few months ago! This movement is so so beautiful and dramatic and *cool*, really really striking and exciting to get to perform and introduce to people. Thank you for reacting to it!
Great to hear you've decided to just go with the best recording available for your videos. It will affect your RU-vid earning so it's really appreciated you do this and long term I think it will help your channel grow bigger anyway. As always, nice to hear your thoughts on another interesting piece and I'm excited for the rest of this symphony.
I second this. People say that nothing compares to the 2nd symphony, but it's true in other ways that nothing compares to, say, the 6th, or the 9th. The 2nd isn't ultimately even my favorite, as Mahler definitely did progress in compositional sophistication over the course of his life.
Yes, 3 is my Favourite. 4 is basically a remix of the first 3 with a preview of 5 for a few seconds lol. 5 is a Trumpet Concerto followed by a symphony lol 6 is a bit intense at times. 7 is brilliant in both it's weird first movement, and it's big german sounding finale. 8 is well, massive. 9 is my least favourite lol.
I'm going to go a bit against the grain and recommend the conductor Claudio Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra for any of the Mahler symphonies. Classical musicians of the very highest caliber used their vacation time from their regular orchestras to go and play for Abbado in Lucerne, that's how revered he was. The result is mind-blowing.
Totally agree . Love to watch Abbado conducting. He just conveys what he wants with his eyes and beautiful arm and hand movement. Bernstein is amazing but I prefer the more restrained Abbado. For me Abbado is the greatest Mahler interpreter - he doesn’t need the score as he knows every note.
If you ever listen to this again, listen to Leonard Bernstein. He does it way different, and personally I think it’s like the ultimate recording of this symphony. Especially that loud dramatic part near the end.
Great reaction man! As someone mentioned, please watch the Leonard Bernstein versions of Mahler symphonies. You will never find a more passionate and talented conductor of his works. In the finale of this symphony he just goes ballistic, would love for you to see it!
This movement was originally written by Mahler prior to composing the symphony, and it is a drama about death. Mahler was quite familiar with death as eight of his siblings dying during his childhood and his brother Otto committing suicide, making him one of five children that survived out of 14 total children. In what is called the exposition of this movement, he explores numerous themes that can tug at heart strings with ease. During the climax of this movement, he uses all 12 notes of the chromatic scale except one followed by a huge cymbal crash and silence. The first theme then comes back at the start of the recapitulation and the movement slowly fades from there. I recommend bringing your experiences of death with you as you listen with an open heart, as the symphony shows everything that life has to offer. In my mind, there is no piece greater than Mahler's 2nd Symphony. It takes a lot of time and concentration, but listening to all five movements of the symphony in one sitting and with an open heart is a truly moving experience. My personal favorite recording of Mahler 2 right now is Gilbert Kaplan's 2003 recording with the Vienna Philharmonic (or Wiener Philharmoniker depending on what platform you're using)
Good day, sir! I just came upon your channel last night, and I will be priveleged to spend some time here. You have a new subscriber in me. As for the version you have chosen...I have loved and studied this symphony for 50 years, and this version is, without doubt, in the top 5. It may be in the top 3. I will die on this hill. Great choice, and the best possible introduction to Mahler.
Welcome to Mahler. This is my favourite Mahler symphony, and I'm not even a person of faith. Mahler has always been my favourite composer since I was a toddler in the early 70s listing to Mahler's 1st Symphony w Hornstein conducting the LSO recorded in 1969. My favourite version of the 2nd is Simon Rattle Birmingham 1998. Thanks for posting!
oooh yeeah. Mahler's second! That will be amazing! When you finished this symphony and you liked it, I would recommend Mahler's 8th symphony. You won't regret it. e.g. this version: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nxf3xtH31jA.html Or alternatively the version from Klaus Tennstedt
You brother, totally break the mold. Gustav would have dug the hell out of you! Right on bro! 🤛🏼 Also check out Der Abscied from Das Lied von der Erde.
Mahler is one of these divisive composers. You either love or hate him, there is no middle-ground. The people that hate his music have problems with his expressiveness, his shameless self-expression that seems to lay bare everything about himself. They expect composers to be more reserved about their ideas. Mahler never knew how to not go all out. And that is too much for some. But for the rest of us, it is the best music ever written. One thing though I must admit: In recent years his music started to become overplayed. Concerts oportunities in total are rare and conductors have to be dilligent in what to program into a relatively small schedule. The more you repeat works of specific composers over and over again, the less chances others get to get performed and heard. And the last thing you want is Mahler becoming business as usual. His music needs to stay an event, where the musicians give their all. Nothing is more a crime against art than overplayed and underexpressed Mahler. One final thing: I'm trying to figure out where you are from. The first thing that threw me off was your perfect pronounciation of italian and now you smashed through german without so much a hint of an english accent.
I had not seen this rendition, even though Mahler 2 is among my personal Top-5 most outstanding works in all of Classical music. The reason for my ignorance being, this symphony is (thankfully!) getting much more frequently performed and recorded of late. I figured Christoph Eschenbach would be the "right" conductor for this piece as far as charismatic visual style. Not disappointed. :)) The symphony being subtitled "Resurrection" (one of those occasions where the composer himself added the title - and he also wrote the final stanzas of its text in the final movement!), this is a fully developed journey from Death and darkness towards Life and light. Several composers have attempted that in works of varying scope, but hardly anyone as effectively as Gustav Mahler. The first movement is the funeral march for the hero (the fallen Titan from the 1st symphony, which you will also have heard by now). Solemn, sinister and touchingly sad in turns, it will organically lead to further developments. If darkness and despair can be so arresting, I guess you can start building expectations what the coming of heavenly light is going to be! AND rest assured any expectations will be subverted in the end. :) This is borderline spiritual for the entire duration, and in the Finale that borderline is just... crossed. This is rewarding. More people should be reacting to the timeless Classics. But most do not possess the patience to immerse themselves!
I paraphrased the whole program under the video of the 2nd Movement, but I thought I'd give the algorithm something to make this more relevant. So I decided to post translations of Mahler's own program to each movement here. So here goes. This is his final draft for a program dating from 1901 (The symphony was composed between 1892 and 1895 if I remember correctly) 1st Movement: We stand at the coffin of a loved one. Their life, struggles, suffering and will pass once again, for the last time, in our mind's eye. - And now, at this serious and profoundly shattering moment, when we are stripping off all the confusion and dragging down of everyday life like a blanket, a terribly serious voice reaches our heart, which we always ignore in the numbing hustle and bustle of the day: What now? What is this life - and this death? Is there any continuity for us? Is all this only a wild dream, or does this life and this death have a meaning? - And we must answer this question if we are to continue living.
@@GIDIREACTS zimerman’s recording for this is actually quite nice imo Edit, though on RU-vid it’s just the album audio so idk if it seems likely to get copyright struck to you.
Wait till you get to movement IV and V - this is Leonard Bernstein's recording with, I think, London Philharmonic. The whole symphony gives brass lots to do, but this passage will lift you right out of your seat! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MQEHiHQf6lg.html
I truly wish as a follower that you would listen to the entire symphony with a much better conductor. This conductor doesn’t provide the true depth of the music.
