<<<  <<  -- 2 --  Patric Standford    QUITE MAGICAL

Whereas Mahler could forge a way forward with the musical language that had endured since Monteverdi so successfully, and many others could not see a way, falling back on invention instead of calling up ingeniousness (for which they perhaps had no talent) it seems clear that Mahler, had he lived, may have gone far further into daring modernism than Zemlinsky, Schrecker and others on the scene at the time, and maybe even further than Berg.

Barenboim seems to treat the 9th as an invitation into the 20th century, rather than a reflection of the past. After the robust and fearless clamour of the Rondo-Burlesque [listen -- track 3, 0:00-1:27], the calm he evokes from the strings and that bleak, sorrowful solo trumpet, is quite magical [listen -- track 3, 5:59-7:30].

The recording quality is superb; a highly recommended disc in what it is hoped will become a complete cycle. Barenboim and Mahler are fine partners.

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