Solti: Mahler – Symphony no.8 (LP, 24/96 FLAC)

I think this knowledgeable Amazon comment by a J. Schofield is worth quoting, especially because it discusses a difference between LP and CD.

“The most famous recording of the Mahler 8th”
That is due to the fact that when it was recorded, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Solti were at the top of the Orchestra ladder. The brass section was considered the best in the symphonic world. And this work has monumental brass parts that require superhuman effort to play. This recording was made in Vienna. There’s an article written that says many members of the Vienna Philharmonic’s brass section were present during the recording and allowed to watch. And after the mighty and heroic conclussion of the work walked out of the recording site mumbling to themselves. The brass playing is that wonderful (I’m a orchestral percussionist by education and performance). The other parts of the orchestra really shine too. The choirs (how can you go wrong with the Vienna Opera Choir?) are exemplary too. And the soloists are at their top form (sadly, many aren’t around anymore).

My biggest beef is with Solti’s tempi. I have always felt that he moved at a quicker clip than other conductors. In the first movement, Veni Creator Spiritus, this works well because it is a very dramatic and kinetic movement. However, at the very end, with brass choirs supplementing the orchestra and blazing, his tempo moves just a bit too fast. It’s a small complaint, but Solti is sometimes accused of this. Also, I feel his conducting is sometimes clinical, say the opposite of Bernstein. On occassion, it happens here. I have the LP still and used it to compare to this recording. The brass parts on the LP shine and are played in correct intonation. But the CD has some really weird parts on the brass. There are times that the brass is so in the background that you cannot distinguish it from the winds. Other times, it comes out blazing in an unnatural crescendo relative to the score. I think the engineers who remastered this version had some difficulties. In all fairness though, this piece is very difficult to record simply because there are so many instruments and singers. Things like where to place the brass choir to give the feeling of a Celestial Host, inserting the piano and organ in proper balance to the rest is very difficult for a balance engineer.

If performance is your criteria though, you can’t get much better than this. It’s exciting and breathtaking.”