The Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp major by Gustav Mahler was written in the summer of 1910, and was his final composition. At the time of Mahler's death, the composition was substantially complete in the form of a continuous draft, but not fully elaborated or orchestrated, and thus not performable. Only the first movement is regarded as reasonably complete and performable as Mahler intended. Perhaps as a reflection of the inner turmoil he was undergoing at the time (Mahler knew he had a failing heart and his wife had been unfaithful), the 10th Symphony is arguably his most dissonant work.
Deryck Cooke's versions
The various realisations produced by Cooke have, since the mid-1960s, become the basis for most performances and recordings.
A first, still incomplete performing version by Cooke stemmed from a performance and an associated lecture for radio broadcast on the BBC Third Programme, marking the centenary of Mahler's birth. This was aired on 19 December 1960, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Berthold Goldschmidt, who also assisted with the orchestration of Cooke's edition. At its first performance Cooke's realisation of the final movement proved to be a revelation to listeners, [citation needed] and Cooke resolved to complete the orchestration and elaboration of the Scherzo movements, which required much more compositional work than he had time for.
Review:
High Quality Non-Compressed Japanese Import SACD! Superior Sound!
Eliahu Inbal conducts the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra for this one-point microphone recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony.
This Exton Laboratory Gold Line Hybrid Stereo disc is a high quality non-compressed Japanese Import SACD. Recorded on a custom Sony DSD recorder, this audiophile SACD is packaged in an XRCD-like luxury digipak. This disc includes a booklet with detailed microphone and equipment diagram and placement used for each individual recording!
Superior quality Japanese Import SACD, manufactured in Yokohama, Japan. Only the best recordings - technically and artistically!
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Comment by hiredfox - January 7, 2017
Exton discs are amongst the most advanced and realistic sound recordings available today. They are expensive but no collection should be without at least a few amongst their numbers.
Comment by Andrew-Kenneth - January 20, 2017
I own both the regular and the one-point-recording of the Inbal Exton 10th.
The one-point recording was recorded with only two microphones placed about a metre apart just above the conductor. The idea behind this is that the sound of the orchestra will reach the microphones without time delay.
In a "regular" recording numerous mikes are placed in the orchestra., causing the sound of, for instance, the violins reaching a mike near the violins first and reaching a further placed mike with a small-time delay. The various time delays need then to be edited out in the studio as much as possible before release.
Both recordings of the Inbal 10th sound similar. I've noticed in the regular version that some instruments sound closer to the listener than on the one-point version.
(probably due to spot-miking in the regular version.)
The only reason I own the two recordings is that that the regular version was released first and I had already collected the other one-point recordings in the series.
(If you are new to this series, just choose the one-point versions - no need to own them both.)
Here's more info on one-point recording =>
http://www.pc-magazin.de/ratgeber/klang-spezialist-tatsuo-nishimura-im-portrait-1204452.html
I'm very fond of Inbal's Mahler. I've collected his 80ies Denon Mahler cycle on blu-spec cd and have also collected his two Maher cycles for Exton. (and the odd disc on Fontec)
In the course of listening to the Exton Inbal Mahler discs I observed some strange noises however cropping up here and there => Inbal likes to (sometimes) hum & sing along to the music. I don't mind this too much, but your mileage may vary.
