REVIEW:

Long feted by Japanese collectors, Schuricht had less credit than was his due in a Karajan-dominated postwar Europe, and his records were discussed in highly patronizing terms in the West as late as the 1970s.

On the day, Schuricht’s approach to Mahler 2 is not so far removed from the ancient Oskar Fried account, in tempo and tone. There’s a Berlioz edge to the “O glaube” orchestral sections, and in the Allegro. Schuricht also invokes Liszt (Dante Symphony especially) as much as Bruckner and Wagner, as one of the work’s godfathers. This helps make the Allegro into a bracing and exciting journey, rather than a portentous experience, ending with a quiet echo of the Liszt Sonata. It lacks the inevitable symphonic tread of a great Klemperer reading of Mahler 2, but it’s tense and unsettling. The “paradise” theme is slow and nicely phrased, though the winds and strings do not always keep it together. But early hopes are not dashed in the first movement.

The colorful sprawl of the Finale is also Lisztian (and Delius-like in some of the detail, perhaps). This recording probably won’t convince you the cinematic fifth movement is a masterpiece, if you’re an agnostic, but the second half is direct, and moving. The scale of expression is human, without layers of religioso varnish, or apocalyptic apoplexy. The pause just before “Sterben” is a shade too long, as Schuricht applies the brakes. The final choral hymn feels less like a church service than usual, and it’s quite a joyous release, at a moderate speed.

The Mahler plays for a shade under 80 minutes, and one disc would have been enough. It’s a shame to restrict a recommendation, except to Schuricht enthusiasts with deep wallets. But the Haydn 86th is so opulently scored the immediate effect is substantial, and it is not dwarfed by Mahler. The radio sound, from May 20, 1954, is fine, and while the orchestra sometimes cuts corners, the performance has some enjoyable sections, if it’s also rather tense. The opening is heavy and slipshod, but the stern Largo of the Capriccio is matched by the drive of the Finale. Look elsewhere for Tom and Jerry fun and games in your Haydn. This Menuetto is tough and quite ugly, dancing in as if to collect your protection money. Unlike the Mahler Second, the “Paris” symphony is not over-recorded, and this version does mature Haydn some mature and old-fashioned, if occasionally rough justice.

The instrumental coda suggests arrival at one of those dumbfounding crosses men have hauled to the summit of many Austrian Alps. Ironically, they disappear from thought once you reach them, just as soon as you experience the view from the top. Before your own climb is over, by all means hear this interesting, untidy, and modest Schuricht reading of Mahler 2, a young person’s truly unruly symphony.

-- Fanfare

REVIEW:

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s first two releases for Ondine under Christoph Eschenbach (Bartók and Tchaikovsky) were extremely good, no doubt about it, but this Mahler Sixth is really extraordinary. Part of its success must stem from the fact that the best German conductors usually do misery especially well, finding the dark side of just about everything. If you don’t believe me, check out Kurt Sanderling’s startlingly deep and edgy rendition of Poulenc’s Concert Champêtre on Supraphon. So you can just imagine what can happen with a piece like Mahler’s Sixth. Anyone fortunate enough to have heard Eschenbach’s performances of this work with the NDR Orchestra in Hamburg will know that he has a special feeling for its harrowing intensity and expressionistic instrumental palette. Toss in the collective virtuosity of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the result is, to put it mildly, pretty special.

As a coupling, the early piano quartet movement is more appropriate than you might at first think. First of all, it shares the same key as the symphony, and second, it’s useful to have it along as part of an all-Mahler program, allowing collectors to round out their collections without having to search for an acceptable all-chamber-music program. The engineering also represents the best in this series so far, with virtually no audience noise, tremendous presence in both stereo and multichannel formats, and extremely natural balances between orchestral sections. I know that Mahler Sixes seem to be a dime a dozen these days, but this one, a first for Philadelphia, belongs among the elite few (Bernstein I and II, Chailly, Levi, T. Sanderling, and Gielen). It’s just bloody thrilling.

— ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz)