MAHLER: Symphony No. 3 – Birgit Remmert / Prague Philharmonic Children’s Choir /Czech Philharmonic Chorus / Czech Philharmonic Orchestra /Zdenek Mácal – Exton Octavia multichannel SACD OVCL-00300 (2 discs), 32:09, 62:51 [Distr. by Allegro] *****:
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) began writing the Third symphony in the summer of 1895 in his little studio by the side of the Attersee. More adventurous in conception and length than the Second, it is nonetheless scored for a slightly smaller orchestra. Inspired by his surroundings, from lifeless minerals and rocks through flora and fauna to mankind, Mahler has the symphony end with a paean to love. The first performance of just the second, third and sixth movements took place under Weingartner in 1897 to a tepid reception. In fact, the whole work had to wait until 1902 for a first complete performance, now under the composer, and was very warmly welcomed. All movements had titles to begin with, but were removed by the time the work was published in 1898. The seventh movement had been discarded earlier, later to become the fourth one of the Fourth Symphony.
Made over a period of two days in concert with some studio patching, this recording has many strengths. Mácal directs with a clear eye on each movement’s climaxes, the results very moving without milking each bar for fleeting effect. The first movement – on its own on the first disc – is one of the longest in the repertoire, Mácal balancing the forces to achieve the long lines necessary for a successful performance. The very opening sucks the listener into this recording, with wonderfully balanced brass, achieved as well as I have ever heard. The minuet second movement and the scherzo following simply glow – preparation for concerts bore fruit here with results of natural, almost subconscious, ebb and flow. The slightly scored passages impress with their transparency. The posthorn doesn’t sound offstage, yet is sufficiently distant to achieve its flavor, and is nicely pointed in its playing by Miroslav Kelmar.
Birgit Remmert’s “O Mensch! Gibt acht!” is very effective, producing just the right rapt stillness needed. Women and children are balanced clearly behind the orchestra, tuning spot-on, with lovely “Bimm Bamms”. The long paragraphs in the final movement come across with restrained yet passionate beauty, building eventually to the grand hymn of praise, with insistent timpani.
This recording exists in three versions, the multichannel and stereo hybrid SACD under consideration here, a stereo “direct cut” SACD costing an enormous amount of money, and a DVD-A/SACD double pack, these last two available in Japan. The booklet notes for this edition are in Japanese and English, though the sung texts are translated into Japanese only, and there’s a substantial essay on the symphony by Anthony Burton, and plenty of information about Mácal and the Czech PO.
Recorded exactly five years ago, the sound quality is quite superb. The audience is well-nigh inaudible, and there is no applause at the end. As much derives from the live performance, just a few passages don’t sound polished to perfection, but these really didn’t concern me, even on much repeated listening. Despite clear use of a myriad of microphones, there’s a clear natural balance, only the solo violin being slightly spotlit. Birgit Remmert and the choirs are recorded with crystal clarity, Remmert not too close, and all parts of the orchestra gleam in their famous acoustic. The Rudolfinum in Prague is a near ideal venue for Mahler’s roomy writing, allowing Mahler’s grandest climaxes the space to expand.
Mácal has recorded all but the Eighth and Tenth for Exton and it is hoped those already released will become available outside Japan in time. This is as impressive an account of Mahler’s Third Symphony I have heard.
— Peter Joelson
