Mahler’s Tenth!
This is a very interesting CD, with a performing group that I did not know, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, a German Youth Orchestra, conducted by Rudolph Barshai. These young players achieve a level of excellence that is very impressive! Their instrumental sound is bright, lively, and showing strong tonal depth. The way they play for Barshai in the Tenth Symphony, you have to include this Mahler Tenth recording to those done by Michael Tilson Thomas, and many others.
The Tenth is played in a direct, intense, and straightforward manner. Barshai himself worked through the unfinished Mahler sketches for many years, bringing his own particular sense of vision to the completed performing version played here. As another performing alternative, this CD holds its own with the other available versions, such as the one by Deryck Cooke. It says a lot about Mahler’s genius and about Barshai’s capabilities that this version still sounds so much like genuine Mahler.
For a biography of Rudolph Barshai, click here:
This CD set also includes a performance, again recorded live from concerts, of the Mahler Fifth Symphony. It is every bit as stunning and marvelous as the performance of the Tenth. From the first sound of the trumpet notes, Barshai’s emphasis is on Mahler’s polyphony. It is down – right astounding is achieved by these young people!
What follows are 9 minutes of a different version of the Mahler Tenth (Cooke):