| Author | Lewis M. Smoley |
Every recorded performance of Mahler shymphonies--and Das Lied--from 1924 until press time! What a labor and how sorely needed! Music Journal In the past 25 years a revival of interest in the music of Gustav Mahler has resulted in nearly 300 new recordings of his symphonies. The breadth and complexity of these works, together with the plethora of recent releases, signals the need for a guide that will be useful both to novice and the experienced collector.
Lewis M. Smoley's book fills this need, providing critical analysis and specific recording information for all known recordings of Mahler's symphonies as well as indexes by conductor, orchestra, and label. The result of extensive research, this volume includes many recordings that have not appeared in previous listings.
Recording made around the world from 1924 through 1986 are treated in chapters devoted to each of the 11 symphonies--including Das Lied von der Erde and the unfinished 10th. Listings are arranged alphabetically under the name of the conductor and analyzed in terms of quality of performance, specific interpretation and interpretive styles, and sonics.
Recordings of special merit are noted. Entries supply information about reissues as well as original pressings, type of recording, and alternative versions of some of the scores. Cross-referenced indexes list conductor, orchestra, vocal soloists, chorus, and record label for the recordings discussed.
The foreword and preface place Mahler's recorded symphonies in perspective and discuss some of the interpretive and textual issues that continue to be debated. This single-volume guide is appropriate for both the average listener and the serious enthusiast, and will also be a valuable addition to the collections of music schools and conservatories.
Review: ?Smoley's Mahler discography is exhaustive, its annotations are both factual and judgmental, and its judgments are more often grounded in facts about parts of the whole and are less often merely global. He listens with score in hand, and expects his readers to do likewise, identifying many passages under duscussion by rehearsal numbers.
The wealth of information, the thoroughness of coverage, the persistence that has ferreted out obscure versions to add to the obvious and the famous, are all virtues to praise this book. Also to be praised are the separate indexes to conductors, orchestras, vocal soloists, choruses, and record labels.
For the personal or institutional record collector interested in Mahler, this book is a gold mine: it gives the necessary basis for informed choice simply by telling so much about so many.?-Notes
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