Thread: Mahler Live: Ain't No Substitute

After being canceled in 2020, Boulder managed to pull off a live Mahlerfest this year. Last night, I spent the evening on the edge of my seat listening to GM's 5th Symphony. I'd been prepping for a couple of weeks listening to MTT's San Francisco Orchestra on my new system, which I feel sounds superb. But the impact of a live 100 person orchestra with powerful brass/percussion, and Mahler's relentless waves of lyrical audilble emotion, have no substitute. I left the music hall in wonderment, with an unlikely conjoined childlike exhileration accompanied by a sense of commonality with the human experience over the ages.
I'm thankful for great music, great performances, and this hobby. The latter bottles some of it and brings it home.

Mahler's 5th is great. Live is wonderful. We heard the London Symphony play it during the 100th anniversary year of Mahler's death in 2011. The slow movement Adagietto is maybe the most famous of the all the movements of all of Mahler's symphonies. Visconti used it as the main theme in his movie "Death in Venice" where he recast the main character in Thomas Mann's novella from an author to a Mahler like musician. For recent recordings of the complete Mahler symphonies, the MTT SFS series is hard to beat. We have heard MTT perform several of the Mahler symphonies over the years in Davies Hall. For an older recorded performance, my favorite is Barbirolli's recording EMI SLS785 from the mid '60's with the New Philharmonia Orchestra.

What orchestra was playing in Boulder?

Larry

Hi Larry,
Thanks for your post. You have had some wonderul listening experiences! This orchestra had been assembled just for the event. I couldn't tell you how many were local vs from other places.
MTT just underwent surgery for a brain tumor several weeks ago. I haven't been able to learn many more details.
Re: Colorado Mahlerfest
About MahlerFest – Colorado MahlerFest

We're all worried about MTT. He had his surgery at UCSF, where my wife was a professor. Fortunately, it is one of the best places for neurosurgery in the country. Larry