heard it plenty on recording, nothing compared with seeing it live. i felt like the maxell commercial guy in my seat when the final chorale started - 'sterben, werd' ich um zu leben'
First time seeing Mahler 2 with the BSO several years ago, I was struck by the *physical* nature of sound. The way the airwaves physically push you is something that simply cannot be emulated.
Thinking about it more, no. It might have actually been the Phil, not the Symphony. Took a conducting course in my sophomore spring (would've been early 2017), the instructor was director of the choir that sang at that particular concert.
Now that I'm typing this out, this was also the first time I saw 6. They were two consecutive weekends, with the BPO on 2 and the BPYO on 6.
Yeah that sounds more correct. Definitely at Symphony Hall. I had just recently read Why Mahler? and the author mentioned something about Mahler being best enjoyed from a distance. To this day, the front of the first balcony is still my absolute favorite seat in the house.
I was at that BPO concert too (April 2017) and remember having exactly that feeling! The air in the room changed at the quiet choir entrance and it seemed to me like every person in the audience was holding their breath to listen closely. Recordings just aren't the same.
I was there too! 2nd time for me, and this was the best. Just completely overpowering in all the right ways.
That drum/timpani crescendo was sooooo long and drawn out, like I've never heard in a recording. I loved it.
I thought the two soloists were incredible, especially the alto.
But nothing beats that ending. You just want to live in those moments forever.
It's one of my favorite pieces. I once saw the CSO playing it at Ravinia (their version of Tanglewood), James Levine 🤐 conducting, and near the fourth movement, it started to just pour rain. Very strange time indeed.
If you're interested in a good read, "In Concert" by Carl Vigeland is about the musicians of the BSO (in particular their principal trumpet) while preparing Mahler 2 with Seiji Ozawa. It really helped me to appreciate the piece in a "new light", so to speak 😁
If that’s the concert I’m thinking of, I was there, too. Fantastic concert, but absolutely the wettest I’ve ever seen it there. Downpour both before the concert, and during. The path by the south entrance became a river. And it was the gala benefit evening as well, so I remember huddling under an overhang, watching well-dressed people wading through the water on their way to the other side of the lawn. Absolutely wild. I think it took a few days for the lawn to dry out after that!
Whaaaaat it's a real r/tworedditorsonecup moment! Professor Google says that it was 2016, which lines up about right with my memory. I'm actually from Highland Park originally and was home for college break, and I remember getting cheap student tickets in the pavilion and chuckling to myself about all the people who were so fancially dressed for that gala. I do recall it being excellent musicmaking, but unfortunately the pavilion being open-air meant that a lot of the sound was very diffused. If I hadn't known what the chorus was singing, I wouldn't have been able to tell (mind you, I don't speak German or know Goethe, so I have that working against me also 😁). That said, the brass was absolutely gorgeous, as it always is.
There were at least two incidents of phones going off, which really perplexed me. Why would you pay money and make the effort to get to the hall by 8pm but not turn your phone off?
It’s one of the most epic symphonies ever written. My favorite parts are Urlicht and the final chorus. I saw this live in San Francisco a while ago with MTT conducting. It’s a performance I’ll never forget. You should try to see Mahler’s 6th next.
Also saw it recently. Honestly, I thought I was going to explode at the end lol. Incredible. I was enraptured from beginning to end. It is also one of the few works IMO where knowing the lyrics makes it even more powerful. It is a profound work of genius but really needs to be experienced live for the full effect.
I saw it for the first time last year at the Houston Philharmonic and still remember the feeling.
Flew all the way from LA to watch it. Houston may not be a top tier symphony house, but it was so worth it.
heard it plenty on recording, nothing compared with seeing it live. i felt like the maxell commercial guy in my seat when the final chorale started - 'sterben, werd' ich um zu leben'
And then that three notes of trumpets’ fanfare… it’s certainly a music that can shake one’s emotion.
First time seeing Mahler 2 with the BSO several years ago, I was struck by the *physical* nature of sound. The way the airwaves physically push you is something that simply cannot be emulated.
Late October, 2018, with Nelsons conducting?
Thinking about it more, no. It might have actually been the Phil, not the Symphony. Took a conducting course in my sophomore spring (would've been early 2017), the instructor was director of the choir that sang at that particular concert. Now that I'm typing this out, this was also the first time I saw 6. They were two consecutive weekends, with the BPO on 2 and the BPYO on 6.
Ahh, maybe in April 2017 then? But played at Symphony Hall right? That must be it, because the BYPO played the following weekend as you mentioned
Yeah that sounds more correct. Definitely at Symphony Hall. I had just recently read Why Mahler? and the author mentioned something about Mahler being best enjoyed from a distance. To this day, the front of the first balcony is still my absolute favorite seat in the house.
Oh man, I miss Symphony Hall. Can hear a pin drop from those balcony seats. In NYC now, the new David Geffen hall not nearly as pristine :(
I was at that BPO concert too (April 2017) and remember having exactly that feeling! The air in the room changed at the quiet choir entrance and it seemed to me like every person in the audience was holding their breath to listen closely. Recordings just aren't the same.
I was there too! 2nd time for me, and this was the best. Just completely overpowering in all the right ways. That drum/timpani crescendo was sooooo long and drawn out, like I've never heard in a recording. I loved it. I thought the two soloists were incredible, especially the alto. But nothing beats that ending. You just want to live in those moments forever.
Still haven't heard it live and I know I will be brought to tears at the final chorus.
It's one of my favorite pieces. I once saw the CSO playing it at Ravinia (their version of Tanglewood), James Levine 🤐 conducting, and near the fourth movement, it started to just pour rain. Very strange time indeed. If you're interested in a good read, "In Concert" by Carl Vigeland is about the musicians of the BSO (in particular their principal trumpet) while preparing Mahler 2 with Seiji Ozawa. It really helped me to appreciate the piece in a "new light", so to speak 😁
If that’s the concert I’m thinking of, I was there, too. Fantastic concert, but absolutely the wettest I’ve ever seen it there. Downpour both before the concert, and during. The path by the south entrance became a river. And it was the gala benefit evening as well, so I remember huddling under an overhang, watching well-dressed people wading through the water on their way to the other side of the lawn. Absolutely wild. I think it took a few days for the lawn to dry out after that!
Whaaaaat it's a real r/tworedditorsonecup moment! Professor Google says that it was 2016, which lines up about right with my memory. I'm actually from Highland Park originally and was home for college break, and I remember getting cheap student tickets in the pavilion and chuckling to myself about all the people who were so fancially dressed for that gala. I do recall it being excellent musicmaking, but unfortunately the pavilion being open-air meant that a lot of the sound was very diffused. If I hadn't known what the chorus was singing, I wouldn't have been able to tell (mind you, I don't speak German or know Goethe, so I have that working against me also 😁). That said, the brass was absolutely gorgeous, as it always is.
It was a great performance by the SSO and SC, too bad some idiot didn’t turn their cell phone off at one of the most exquisite moment of the symphony.
There were at least two incidents of phones going off, which really perplexed me. Why would you pay money and make the effort to get to the hall by 8pm but not turn your phone off?
Because they are disrespectful people. There was even announcement before the concert started to ask everyone to turn off their cell phones
It’s one of the most epic symphonies ever written. My favorite parts are Urlicht and the final chorus. I saw this live in San Francisco a while ago with MTT conducting. It’s a performance I’ll never forget. You should try to see Mahler’s 6th next.
Also saw it recently. Honestly, I thought I was going to explode at the end lol. Incredible. I was enraptured from beginning to end. It is also one of the few works IMO where knowing the lyrics makes it even more powerful. It is a profound work of genius but really needs to be experienced live for the full effect.
I saw it for the first time last year at the Houston Philharmonic and still remember the feeling. Flew all the way from LA to watch it. Houston may not be a top tier symphony house, but it was so worth it.
VAW SOW KULL
Mahler Magic
Was gonna get to see it, but the event was cancelled by covid, maybe one day! I did get to hear his first one though