Friday, May 28, 2010

Manchester and Mahler

Last night was the penultimate concert of the Mahler cycle in Manchester, the Ninth Symphony, to my mind the finest piece Mahler wrote, with its agonisingly beautiful finale of life fading away. It was a fine performance and was recorded for BBC Radio 3. It can be heard on Monday at 19.00 and on BBC iPlayer for a limited period.

This YouTube is a remarkable clip of Leonard Bernstein in rehearsal and performance, talking through his interpretation of the symphony's finale.

3 comments:

mikeovswinton, cultural correspondent said...

Last night's main cultural event in Manchester was surely Mayer Hawthorne and the County at the Ruby Lounge. Mr Hawthorne was nominated and duly elected as substitute mayor of Manchester [no-one knew the name of the real one!] and conducted proceedings superbly. His version of the Richard "Popcorn" Wylie Northern Soul classic "Maybe so, maybe no" (originally done by the New Holidays) was truly a thing of beauty. As was "The Ills" - if you shut your eyes you could have sworn it was Mr Curtis Mayfield up there on stage.

Roger said...

Lucky man

I've probably seen more Mahler 9s live than all the other symphonies combined - Just wish I lived now somewhere where seeing a decent symphony orchestra didn't require an overnight stay.

Recordings-wise I always find myself coming back to the Barbirolli/BPO.

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