Mahler, G.: Symphony No. 3 (Gustav Mahler - Traditional - Friedrich Nietzsche)

Album review

Bernard Haitink recorded Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in D minor with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1966, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra recorded the work with Georg Solti in 1982, so each already has a classic rendition that is readily available and worth including in any collection. But this live 2006 recording, which marks Haitink's debut as the CSO's principal conductor and features mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, the Women of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and the Chicago Children's Choir, also deserves serious consideration, despite not being released on a major label and not having the cited recordings' longevity in print. In fact, Haitink's interpretation here is exacting, intense, and powerful, and the orchestra's playing is vivid and evocative, so there is nothing lacking in this concert performance and little to take issue with, aside from the occasional coughs and other unavoidable audience noises. The sound of the recording is phenomenally deep, wide, and spacious, and the separation of the instruments is so realistic that one can easily imagine being in the front row of Orchestra Hall; the sonorities are so vibrant and the acoustics are so responsive that everything from the softest bass drum stroke to the glassiest harmonic has an almost palpable presence. And if one considers that Haitink's older recording on Philips is somewhat inferior in sound due to its age and the slightly airless quality of its remastering, this recording has clear advantages for audiophiles. But in the end, the performance is what matters most: this is an emotionally compelling rendition that holds its own with any version on the market, and it will satisfy any Mahlerian with its many passages of profound beauty, childlike playfulness, and spiritual ecstasy.
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