Mahler: Symphony No. 8 "symphony Of A Thousand" - Stokowski (2013)

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Mahler: Symphony No. 8 "symphony Of A Thousand" - Stokowski (2013)

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When the New York Philharmonic fired conductor Artur Rodzinski in 1946, Leopold Stokowski saw an opportunity – he had long desired the post of principal conductor in New York and went to work trying to obtain it. From 1947 to 1950, Stokowski made himself available to New York on an on-call basis, conducting children’s concerts, fill in concerts for other conductors, anything that New York would assign to him, remaining visible until the long process of choosing a music director was finished. Alas, it became clear by early 1950 that Stokowski was not going to be New York’s choice for the position, awarded instead to Dimitri Mitropoulos. To vindicate his artistry and go out with a bang, Stokowski played his “ace in the hole” through programming Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in E flat, the so-called “Symphony of a Thousand,” which in 1950 had never been heard in New York. Stokowski had first conducted it in 1916 in Philadelphia and, among conductors in America in 1950, probably only he and Bruno Walter were familiar with the work, and it was not in Walter’s repertoire. The concert, held on April 9, 1950, was a heavily promoted, sold-out event that was a smashing success and helped increase the profile of a conductor whose stock, as far as the public was concerned, was already incredibly high.

This concert was the source of one of the earliest “bootleg” classical recordings ever distributed to the public, and its entrance into the market was nearly instantaneous; the morning after the concert the record shops on Radio Row were selling a recording of the concert pressed on a set of six 8” flexidiscs that contained the entire 78-minute performance. It remains the earliest surviving complete recorded performance of the Mahler Eighth, enjoying a long history on non-mainstream issues. United Classics now releases this spectacular performance as a single cd. A welcome reissue, which was long overdue.

Composer: Gustav Mahler
Performer: Eugene Conley, George London, Camilla Williams, Uta Graf, …
Conductor: Leopold Stokowski

Reviews: Here is yet another famous historical performance remastered and repackaged. For those who know the recording, little need be said of it. This is one of the greatest performances of Mahler’s most complex and difficult symphony ever given—not quite on the exalted level of Rafael Kubelík’s, though only because it is mono and not stereo. One thing that both performances have in common is outstanding vocal soloists, always the most difficult thing to pull off in performances of this work, particularly in the modern era. Not only do all of these singers have fine voices (Yeend even taking the oft-omitted trill in the first movement), but they also blend well, which is normally more difficult to achieve. Three choruses were used, from Westminster Choir College, the Schola Cantorum, and the Boys’ Chorus of Public School No. 12 in Manhattan, and all sing their little hearts out.


Some reviews of this performance that I’ve read online complain that it almost sounds like two different performances, the first half spirited and lively, the second half slower and almost turgid. I don’t necessarily agree; to me, the second part, which is the final scene of Goethe’s Faust, should be performed more majestically. I don’t like it when the tempo sounds rushed, so for me this performance is just fine in that regard.


The pressing I compared this to was one of the better ones, the version issued by the New York Philharmonic as part of their massive set of historic Mahler performances. The sound on that issue was respectably clean, solid, and fairly good for an old broadcast. This one is much better. The “thump” of the organ opening is surprisingly solid and clear, and the textures of both orchestra and chorus are also clearer. (Is it just me, or does anyone else notice that Frances Yeend’s voice in this performance bears a strong tonal resemblance to that of Zinka Milanov?) As a result of the clearer sound, everything—strings, winds, and brass—sounds much less congested and natural. As a result, this performance is no longer somewhat difficult to discern clearly; everything jumps out at you. Thus I have no hesitation recommending this, despite its mono sound (which I normally steer clear of in any Mahler work), as the finest representation of an historic Mahler Eighth I’ve ever heard.


In passing, I should like to say a few words about the other of the two most famous early Mahler Eighth, the London performance given by Jascha Horenstein in the late 1950s. While I agree that his conducting of the music is absolutely splendid, I’ve yet to hear a pressing of that performance that is in any way clear. The microphone placement, sadly, seems to have been pretty far back, and the soloists placed behind the orchestra with the chorus. As a result, all soft passages are covered by a patina of concert hall ambience and the coughing of various audience members, and the superb soloists—including the rarely-heard but excellent South African soprano Joyce Barker as Magna Peccatrix—sound like distant echoes. A shame, really, because this certainly was an historic Eighth, equal musically and dramatically to the Stokowski version, but unless someone knows of a pressing that magically focuses the sound much sharper I would have to give it a very reluctant thumbs-down. This one, on the other hand, is one for the ages.