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New Mahler 8th on Blu-ray; Chailly and Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig

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srl1

Saw this Blu-ray release on Amazon and couldn't resist it. I have never attended or seen a performance of Mahler's Eighth Symphony, and here was an opportunity to get a high-def performance from a world-class orchestra and conductor. The performance on disc is made up of two live performances from the International Mahler Festival Leipzig on May 26/27, 2011. There is another release available, a Second Symphony, which is definitely next on my shopping list.

The forces at play here are awesome. The sound is DTS HD Master Audio (with a PCM Stereo track, too). On my new Oppo BDP-95 this is a wonderful disc. It has great sound top to bottom (ah, the organ), great detail and dynamic range (although no one can get as quiet as Abbado, Chailly does just fine). It almost looks like the performers outnumber the audience!

I'm not an expert on vocal performances, but none of these were cringe-worthy so I guess they were fine. The whole presentation, audio/video, is professional. The video is what we've come to expect in a concert performance.

Anyway, sonically this is the best Eighth I've heard, and the added involvement of the video makes it a moving performance.
Mahler 8th -- Chailly on Amazon (Open in New Window)

Follow Ups:

I'm tempted! - Chris from Lafayette 13:22:08 11/13/11 (5)
The trouble is that the "Symphony of a Thousand" is far from my favorite Mahler work, and I have two other hi-def audio performances of the work already (not to mention a couple of older CD's): Chailly's earlier performance with the Concertgebouw (on a Decca DVD-Audio disc), and Wit's newer performance with the Warsaw Philharmonic (on a Naxos Blu-Ray audio-only disc). I feel as if it's only a matter of time until I succumb and acquire the new Chailly/LGO Blu-ray disc too. (The same goes for the Resurrection Symphony.) BTW, I feel that Wit's performance is not inferior to Chailly's Concertgebouw performance at all, despite Chailly's bigger-name forces.

Anyway, thanks for the write-up - it makes my resistance to the new Chailly/LGO Blu-ray discs all the more futile! ;-)
- RE: I'm tempted! - Thornhill 20:09:44 11/14/11 (0)
  If I didn't also have the Wit Blu-ray I'd probably get the new Chailly recording, but I don't like the Mahler 8 that much.
- RE: I'm tempted! - srl1 17:39:03 11/13/11 (3)
  I have the Wit disc on Blu-ray and the old Chailly on CD. I believe the new Chailly is sonically superior to both, and with this work the sound is important.
  
  I'm hoping Abbado eventually does the Eighth at Lucerne. I have his third, fourth, fifth, six and ninth on Blu-ray (I have the first and seventh on DVD). Since his Second is older, and from what I hear the BD is not that great sonically, I'm hoping Chailly can substitute well with his new Second.
  
  I just noticed that there are several rave reviews on Amazon. You may read those more than I do, so you might know if these folks are review-worthy.
  - RE: I'm tempted! - pbarach 14:48:21 11/14/11 (2)
    I'm tempted, too. The older Chaily (Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam) has muddy sound. The Wit has better sound than the old Chailly, and it's a better performance.
    
    I have an mp3 (audio-only) download of the Chailly Mahler 8, and the performance is excellent. The Tilson Thomas Mahler 8 on SACD has fine sound, it's a great performance, and the soloists are unveven.
    
    Here's a trailer for the new Chailly recording:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQh_bPZWh8k&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLA037885D2430B252
    - Chailly/Concertgebouw - Chris from Lafayette 16:22:52 11/14/11 (1)
      I'm surprised when you say the Chailly/Concertgebouw recording has muddy sound - do you have the CD or the DVD-Audio? I've been very impressed by the sound on the DVD-Audio, but that may be because the DVD-Audio multi-channel is separating out the sound better than is possible on a regular stereo CD. As I mentioned, I like the Wit performance too (actually, I like it a lot!), but I wouldn't say it's necessarily better than the Chailly, either sound- (on the DVD-Audio) or performance-wise.
      
      BTW, thanks for the "preview" link to the new Chailly/LGO performance - it looks great. I'll HAVE to get it now! ;-)
      - RE: Chailly/Concertgebouw - pbarach 19:23:15 11/15/11 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Chailly/Concertgebouw posted by Chris from Lafayette on November 14, 2011 at 16:22:52
        
        I had the CD--never heard the DVD-Audio. I do have the SACD of the Chailly Mahler 3, which I also find kind of muddy--there is very little side to side imaging going on in the multichannel track. That's not my experience inside the Concertgebouw (where I heard Mahler 7 with Rattle and the Vienna Philharmonic a long time ago) or on most recordings from that venue.

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