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WFMT Listeners' Top 10 Symphonies

Posted by krisjan (R) on May 29, 2015 at 11:40:39

Listeners of Chicago's WFMT radio station have weighed in on their favorite symphonies. Recently, the station asked listeners to submit their faves which were collected, massaged and turned into this top ten list:

1. Beethoven No.9
2. Dvorak No.9
3. Shostakovich No.5
4. Mahler No.5
5. Tchaikovsky No.6
6. Mahler No.1
7. Sibelius No.2
8. Beethoven No.3
9. Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique
10. Beethoven #5
Over the past ten weekdays, these symphonies were performed (starting with No.10 and working towards No.1 which was played today). Naturally, they chose Chicago Symphony Orchestra performances with the exception of the Sibelius No.2 which the CSO has never recorded (!!). I listened to many of these as they were broadcasted. One of the things that struck me is that they chose a Barenboim/CSO performance of Mahler No.1. I was curious because I had not heard ANY Mahler by Barenboim and, when searching for recordings by him, they are almost non-existant. He's done Syms 5 and 9 plus Kinder and Das Lied. Now I know why he's not done much Mahler - he kinda sucks at it. The performance of Mahler 5 was episodic and perverse.

The other thing that struck me was the fact that the CSO has never recorded Sibelius No.2. It seems almost unfathomable that such a great work would not have been recorded by them at some point during the modern recording era but, alas, no.

As to the list itself, I don't have much to argue with. Perhaps some would be surprised by the inclusion of the Shostakovich (especially in the No.3 spot) or the lack of anything by Brahms (especially No.4), Bruckner (e.g. No.8), Mozart and/or even Haydn. Not surprisingly, the most "modern" symphony is the Shosty (composed in 1937) with most everything else coming in the 19th century (OK, Mahler 5 and Sibelius 2 were both composed in 1902 so I'm pressing that issue just a tad).

All that being said, what are your top 5 (let's keep it to 5 for discussion's sake). I'm still thinking about my list and will offer them in a later post.

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