Mahler 10 symphonies rafael kubelik biography

THE COMPLETE SYMPHONIES
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik
DG Collectors Edition, 463 738-2, 10 discs, Bargain Price
Crotchet £59.95

Kubelik's complete Mahler cycle has been in and out of the catalogue - both on LP and CD - and has been widely commented on.

I have never quite found any of these interpretations particularly persuasive and having started my listening with the Ninth (the first recorded in this cycle) quickly remembered why.

"Mahler: 10 Symphonien". Album of Symphonieorchester des ...

Kubelik's approach to Mahler can often be abrasive - and in the Ninth there is ample opportunity to sample Kubelik's unsubtle use of dynamics and balance. Part of the problem lies in the recording which is extremely harsh - this music needs space to breathe and doesn't receive it here in a clinical, dry acoustic. Kubelik's treatment of the brass lines reminds me of Eugen Jochum's unhealthy obsession with brass balance in his Dresden Bruckner Eight: so Kubelik Mahler 1 Audite TEN C - Classics Today GUTIJ