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Vanska's Mahler 2nd

I'm going to go out on a limb here and declare how wonderful this Mahler 2nd is before David Hurwitz announces that it is one of the worst he's ever heard. :)

First, I had to listen to this 24/96 2-channel FLAC album several times to come to this conclusion. This is because the sound quality is so awesome it initially distracted me from the performance. The sound engineering is done by Take5 Music again, but it is a different person than the previous two releases. The orchestra is recorded close-up with great left-right spread. This works in the long run because the chorus actually sounds behind the orchestra and the off-stage performers have even more depth. The sound is clear and detailed with great dynamic range (a BIS specialty). I plan on using the scherzo as a demo track when I have visitors over. It's just sonically amazing from soft to loud and bass to treble.

After I got over the delight of the sound, I went back and concentrated on the performance. In his previous Mahler releases I found that Vanska seemed to have all of the notes but wasn't quite sure what to do with them. The 2nd is a much different symphony. Its emotion and power are built-in and seem to flow from the beginning to the logical conclusion. Vanska leads us through the journey with confidence and a few interesting turns (tempos and phrasing) along the way. He builds to a strong climax in the first movement. He releases the tension with a beautiful second movement andante. He finds a midpoint of tension between the first two movements in the scherzo. I found the Urlicht with Sasha Cooke to be a beautiful prelude to the massive, explosive finale.

The impact of the finale in overwhelming. Vanska seems especially sure-footed as he progresses through the different episodes in this vast 34 minute musical canvas. The fine recording makes it easy to hear everything that is going on and also allows the climaxes to be clear and not congested. The organ is clear, solid and powerful without being overwhelming.

Anyway, I really like this performance/recording combination. I hope that the multi-channel version is released on the eclassical site so that Chris can give it a try. I have a feeling that the surround version will move the orchestra back a little and hopefully not negatively affect the clarity of the stereo version.


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Topic - Vanska's Mahler 2nd - srl1 09:40:17 01/10/19 (25)

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