Since the visual sense in humans dominates the aural by a factor of 10, you cannot and must not compare a video with an audio recording, unless you turn the TV screen off. Dudamel is brainless and formless, generating his usual humid mess but little light. The Solti remains in a class by itself, and though the technology marches on, the musicianship does not.
If you listen with your eyes, by all means enjoy Dudamel. However if the ebb and flow of this sprawling work matter to you, with a raft of better vocal soloists, Solti holds the piece together in one coherent whole as no one else does.
When Solti starts at the beginning, you can see with him the entire work all the way to the end, and in this score, that's neither easy nor common.
If you are a Solti-phobe, and there are such people, you may skip the sloppy Bernsteins, undernourished Tennstedt, somnolent Haitink, claustrophobic Kubelik, icy Gielen, bland Davis, limp Abbado, fussy Rattle and so on, and choose among the Gary Bertini, Giuseppe Sinopoli or Riccardo Chailly recordings, Chailly getting the nod for sonics.
I don't agree with all the tempo choices in any of these three, but I respect them as worthy of the work and decent alternatives.
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Mahler: Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand"
Rmst ed.
Reissued, Remastered
Gustav Mahler
(Composer),
Georg Solti
(Conductor),
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
(Orchestra)
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more Format: Audio CD
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Audio CD, August 10, 1999
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| $6.98 | $2.92 |
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Track Listings
1 | Veni, Creator Spiritus |
2 | Imple Superna Gratia |
3 | Infirma Nostri Corporis |
4 | Accende Lumen Sensibus |
5 | Veni, Creator Spiritus |
6 | Gloria Patri Domino |
7 | Poco Adagio - Waldung, Sie Schwankt Heran |
8 | Ewiger Wonnebrand |
9 | Wie Felsenabgrund Mir Zu Fuben |
10 | Gerettet Ist Das Edle Glied |
11 | Uns Bleibt Ein Erdenrest - Hier Ist Die Aussicht Frei |
12 | Hochste Herrscherin Der Welt - Dir, Der Unberuhrbaren |
13 | Bei Der Liebe, Die Den Fuben |
14 | Neige, Neige, Du Ohnegleiche |
15 | Blicket Auf Zum Retterblick |
16 | Alles Vergangliche |
Editorial Reviews
CD
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- Language : English
- Product Dimensions : 5.63 x 5 x 0.39 inches; 3.95 ounces
- Manufacturer : Decca
- Item model number : 1993035
- Original Release Date : 2006
- Date First Available : September 2, 2000
- Label : Decca
- ASIN : B000E6EGYQ
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #55,023 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #1,119 in Symphonies (CDs & Vinyl)
- #1,262 in Opera & Vocal (CDs & Vinyl)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
176 global ratings
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2021
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2010
This recording has been around in various formats for many years: plastic, cassette, double disc set and now remastered on a single disc. I know my opinion is shared by many and it may be that this recording was my teacher, but if one must name a single recording to consider a standard, this is about as close to definitive as one is going to get. I have twelve versions of this music and have seen it five times, once in Berlin with the BPO and still find Solti and the CSO to be the gold standard. The soloists have not been matched (four of them have since passed away) and Solti's dynamics are timeless. (When Chorus Mysticus intones "Alles Vergangliche" to begin the last six minutes, it still sends chills up the spine as no other recording of that moment does!) The recent Tilson Thomas with the SFO is truely marvelous and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves this music, but if you don't have the Solti, you really should have it for the timeless standard that it is. I would urge the novice to skip the Boulez and the Rattle as they're simply done better by others. Lenny's Salzburg Festival recording from 1975 on DG is splendidly exciting (the best timpani bump before the final "Gleichnis"...ever), and Tennstedt's beautiful recording on EMI is also a must, but if there's only one to have, Solti's is "the one".
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2019
Make no mistake about it, back in 1971 this recording came out of the shoot to great hosannas. This performance was hailed with well-deserved acclaim, due to Solti's dynamic reading, the great Chicago Symphony Orchestra, featuring the famous Chicago brass, and the complete juggernaut the orchestra had become, and to add the fabulous list of singers and choristers that Decca had assembled for the solo parts. And with all of this under the control of the world-famous Decca engineers, Kenneth Wilkinson and Gordon Parry, surely this had to be the unbeatable recording of this mammoth work. A "lay-down" also seemed guarantied from the problems Lenny Bernstein had had in London while recording the same work with the London Symphony Orchestra. And even ceding certain musical aspects here or there present in other recordings, this Solti recording remained generally at the top of the list for quite a while.
Yet things never quite seem to stay the way they are forever. And after the emergence from Sony of the multi-channel SACD process, recording standards made a galvanic improvement, and even now that this Decca recording has undergone a 96kHz - 24 bit remastering in an effort to keep it sounding the best available. It has been superseded! - The title holder today, and most deservedly so, is GUSTAVO DUDAMEL's Deutsche Grammophon's Blu-Ray disc recording with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simon Bolivar SO of Venezuela, a live concert of 1,400 American and Venezuelan performers, and It blows away the Solti and all other title contenders. It is simply breathtaking to behold visually and musically. I cannot recommend it more highly. I implore you to hear the Dudamel. It's the champ!
Yet things never quite seem to stay the way they are forever. And after the emergence from Sony of the multi-channel SACD process, recording standards made a galvanic improvement, and even now that this Decca recording has undergone a 96kHz - 24 bit remastering in an effort to keep it sounding the best available. It has been superseded! - The title holder today, and most deservedly so, is GUSTAVO DUDAMEL's Deutsche Grammophon's Blu-Ray disc recording with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simon Bolivar SO of Venezuela, a live concert of 1,400 American and Venezuelan performers, and It blows away the Solti and all other title contenders. It is simply breathtaking to behold visually and musically. I cannot recommend it more highly. I implore you to hear the Dudamel. It's the champ!
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2018
Hard to rate a performance of this magnitude. You need a decent loudspeaker system to even hear it properly because of the huge dynamic range, from overpoweringly massive to whisper quiet in a matter of seconds. It's an amazing recording, but to really appreciate it I believe one must have more than a nodding acquaintance with Goethe's play, of which this sets to music the final scene. One must understand at the outset that the whole drama is based on Mephistopheles' wager with God, a bet which only God can win. This scene, then, is our second voyage to Heaven, the first being in the preamble to the play, set to music by Boito in his opera Mefistofile. Altogether, this recording is spectacular, and so must be taken quite seriously.
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2011
I had heard a lot about this recording before I bought a copy. For me, it has definitely lived up to its reputation. Its sound is very clean and precise with details in the orchestration audible behind the choir. The tutti sections are very powerful dynamically, and while the more reserved sections are dialed back appropriately, some may think they lack the delicate emotional approach associated with other Mahler recordings. I felt that this was a great value, costing under $10 before shipping. For how powerfully the orchestra plays, they exhibit a great deal of control over the music. This is a great Mahler disc.
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2018
This Mahler #8th rivals Beethovens #9th, and in some ways exceeds it. The dramatic beginning alone will shake you...the entire work is a masterpiece, and of course, Solti and the Chicago Symphony is unsurpassed. I remember friends who 'just don't care for Mahler..too heavy' ...but this piece converted them.
Top reviews from other countries
D. Arnauts
5.0 out of 5 stars
Une des meilleures versions de cette symphonie
Reviewed in France on January 23, 2021
J'avais la version Ozawa que j'adore et cette version a été plébiscitée par France Musique, alors j'ai voulu avoir les deux !
Silvestre
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mahler - Octava - Solti
Reviewed in Spain on February 14, 2024
La mejor Octava de Mahler si no miramos mucho. Deteniéndonos un poco más tendríamos la versión de Horenstein.
En todo caso, la versión de Solti es imprescindible.
En todo caso, la versión de Solti es imprescindible.
Benito Corte Velasco
5.0 out of 5 stars
Una versión legendaria, ahora en un CD
Reviewed in Mexico on June 4, 2019
Excelente versión, una interpretacón histórica hecha por un director legendario, Georg Solti, junto con su orquesta favorita, la Sinfónica de Chicago de una de las obras más famosas del mundo, la Sinfonía no. 8 de Gustav Mahler. En esta versión, Solti, hace gala de una lectura ágil y precisa, destacando las voces instrumentales y vocales, logrando un excelente resultado, el cual mantiene al oyente siempre atento y captando su interés. Junto a Solti y su orquesta se unen una pléyade de excelentes voces de los años '70s , además y como broche de oro, cabe señalar la estupenda colaboración de los coros de Viena, el de la Ópera, el Sigverein y los niños cantores. Un disco altamente recomendable, el cual por primera vez, aparece en la versión de un solo CD. Un dato curioso y destacable, es el hecho de que la grabación se realizó en Viena, con coros de Viena, una orquesta norteaméricana y un director mahleriano por excelencia.
Geoff B
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great recording of a great Symphony, Mahler Symphony No 8
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 18, 2018
-A wonderful performance of Mahler's great 8th Symphony by Georg Solti with the Chicago Symphony and various singers made in August/September 1971.
Firstly the sound is superb in this cleaned up version under the Decca Legends label of 1999. Secondly the singing is top-class by all the soloists and the 3 choirs.
The orchestral playing is excellent and the conducting is spot on. The intensity and drama are as good as a live experience. This is a great recording of a work that can sound slow and overlong.
A bonus is the text in German and translation in English. It is on one CD with a TT of 79.68 mins.
All in all this CD is a real achievement particularly for those who previously couldn't come to terms with this vast choral work.
Firstly the sound is superb in this cleaned up version under the Decca Legends label of 1999. Secondly the singing is top-class by all the soloists and the 3 choirs.
The orchestral playing is excellent and the conducting is spot on. The intensity and drama are as good as a live experience. This is a great recording of a work that can sound slow and overlong.
A bonus is the text in German and translation in English. It is on one CD with a TT of 79.68 mins.
All in all this CD is a real achievement particularly for those who previously couldn't come to terms with this vast choral work.
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great !!!
Reviewed in Italy on September 3, 2017
Difficilmente ripetibile questa incisione. Storicamente unica. Rimane immensa anche l'interpretazione di Stokowski LIVE con il suo significato storico ma la potenza apocalittica della direzione di Solti rimarrà ineguagliabile. Si narra che assistendo alle prove delle sessioni di incisione, i membri dei Wiener si chiedessero come i fiati della Chicago Symphony potessero esprimere tanta potenza...