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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Probably no other symphonies offer wider interpretative possibilities than Mahler's 7th. It is a problematic symphony if you try to confine it within a certain style of conducting, but that only proves how great and rich Mahler's music is. I love Tennstedt and Bernstein's untamed performance with huge climaxes and extreme contrasts, but Abbado's beautifully crafted account with Chicago SO reveals other aspects of the symphony. Listers' attention is drawn to the subtle nuance and inner beauty of the music rather than mere emotional expressiveness. Chicago SO's playing is glowingly colourful and refined.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is a very fine performance of Mahler's 7th Symphony, probably the best of Abbado's 1980s Mahler cycle. The performance of the first movement in particular is extremely compelling, as dramatic as Bernstein's DG performance and even more beautifully played. The inner movements are also very well done.
Abbado rerecorded the 7th Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic in 2001. The Berlin version has incredible orchestral playing and a more exciting finale. If forced to choose one version, the Berlin recording would be my first choice.
However, the sound quality of this Chicago recording is very good and the orchestral playing is excellent. It still has a lot going for it, despite the competition from Bernstein and the later Abbado. I'm glad to have it in my collection.
Abbado rerecorded the 7th Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic in 2001. The Berlin version has incredible orchestral playing and a more exciting finale. If forced to choose one version, the Berlin recording would be my first choice.
However, the sound quality of this Chicago recording is very good and the orchestral playing is excellent. It still has a lot going for it, despite the competition from Bernstein and the later Abbado. I'm glad to have it in my collection.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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21 reviews
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
No longer the troubled symphony
2 Feb 2000
Format:Audio CD
This has always been the most difficult of Mahler's symphonies to perform. It is a work that through its long outer movements, requires great skill and understanding from the conductor, in order to give a complete reading. The central movements are imaginative, dark and searching, but many a performance has brought out the qualities of these central three movements and then fallen apart in the rondo finale. This is the first recording to succeed in both. The, now famous, second movement is timed to perfection, Abbado bringing everything out in the haunting undertones and yet the finale is just as successful and for the first time, you want to go back and hear it again, it is so convincing. The sound quality is second to none and the playing is particularly fine (just listen to the brass passages in the first movement!). Deryk Cooke found this work problematic, as keen as he was about Mahler, but I think this recording sets any troubled minds at rest.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Two Mahler Sevenths from Abbado
8 Jan 2006
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Twenty years separate Abbado's CSO recording of the Mahler Seventh (1984) from his live concert reading with the Berlin Phil. (2002). This symphony brings out the best in Abbado; there isn't a trace of slackness or underplaying in either performance. It's interesting to compare how his conception has changed over two decades.
1984: When the CSO played under Solti, every Mahler symphony was turned into a blockbuster, externalizing the music so that you noticed the orchestra first and Mahler second. This is sitll somewhat true here. The CSO is extroverted and forward, prone to big gestures in the air and aided by one of DG's best early digital recordings--one could mistake this for top-of-the-line analog sound. Abbado conducts in broad strokes, and in his effort to make the music beatuiful at every moment, he doesn't sharply delineate changes of mood and tone. The entire first movement, for example, doesnt' get tangled with itself or veer between schizoid moods as under Bernstein. We hear a steady march rhythm throughout and consistent optimism. Similarly, the finale is smoothed out to the point of sounding jaunty. That said, Abbado shows a strong affinity for this work; every section is ocmpletely felt and convincing. At the time of its release, when critics still parroted the rusty judgment that the Seventh is a "difficult" work, Abbado offered mellifluous proof that it wasn't.
2002: The Berlin Phil. doesn't showcase itself, serving Mahler with spontaneous, expressive playing of his every nuance. In fact, the refinement of ensemble is all but uncanny. Abbado hasn't changed his earlier timing (78 min.) by more than a few seconds, but the controus are different--this is a performance of many contrasts, sharp turns, eerie ghost noises, idealized memories of nature, and surreal dancers who disappear into the night. The recorded sound is more distant than before, enticing the listener in rather than meeting us face to face.
Both are great performances, and if the supernatural precision of the Berlin Phil. hadn't appeared, the CSO's execution would seem like the last word. In the end one could own either version alone, but they are just different enough that experiencing both brings new pleausres.
1984: When the CSO played under Solti, every Mahler symphony was turned into a blockbuster, externalizing the music so that you noticed the orchestra first and Mahler second. This is sitll somewhat true here. The CSO is extroverted and forward, prone to big gestures in the air and aided by one of DG's best early digital recordings--one could mistake this for top-of-the-line analog sound. Abbado conducts in broad strokes, and in his effort to make the music beatuiful at every moment, he doesn't sharply delineate changes of mood and tone. The entire first movement, for example, doesnt' get tangled with itself or veer between schizoid moods as under Bernstein. We hear a steady march rhythm throughout and consistent optimism. Similarly, the finale is smoothed out to the point of sounding jaunty. That said, Abbado shows a strong affinity for this work; every section is ocmpletely felt and convincing. At the time of its release, when critics still parroted the rusty judgment that the Seventh is a "difficult" work, Abbado offered mellifluous proof that it wasn't.
2002: The Berlin Phil. doesn't showcase itself, serving Mahler with spontaneous, expressive playing of his every nuance. In fact, the refinement of ensemble is all but uncanny. Abbado hasn't changed his earlier timing (78 min.) by more than a few seconds, but the controus are different--this is a performance of many contrasts, sharp turns, eerie ghost noises, idealized memories of nature, and surreal dancers who disappear into the night. The recorded sound is more distant than before, enticing the listener in rather than meeting us face to face.
Both are great performances, and if the supernatural precision of the Berlin Phil. hadn't appeared, the CSO's execution would seem like the last word. In the end one could own either version alone, but they are just different enough that experiencing both brings new pleausres.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Truly fine recording, great price
9 April 2000
Format:Audio CD
I've read more than one person write about the last movement of this symphony as if it's a problem to listen to. In a bad recording maybe, but I've heard two recordings of this symphony and the last movement of the seventh conveys an awesome sunlit brilliance. To me, it is one of the most thrilling and engaging orchestral movements in the entire Western symphonic tradition. Abbado shines throughout this performance. Overall, this is a great first pick for a reasonably priced version of the symphony. Each movement is handled with both precision and passion. Go for it!
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