Word: abbado
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...major chord trumpeted by the horns wanes into an A minor chord, and the reiteration of this three-second transformation during the hour-and-a-half of Abbado's new Deutsche-Grammophon recording with the Chicago Symphony warps the texture of adventure, love and almost militant drive and power until the five angels ascend, Wormwood falls, locusts emerge from the great pit, or--is it possible to compare--Brando gets what he deserves. The Pentagon might object to this violent death, or respond by sending in troops of its own. Mahler, who became a Roman Catholic in 1997, seven years...
...ABBADO HAS A WEAKNESS for airy tunes played on glockenspiel and celesta. The tunes come and go between martial rhythms. Young Gustav, fascinated by the military, could never quite part with his recollections of parading soldiers. The march was to Mahler what the Ring of the Nibelung was to Wagner...
...composer cried after the premiere of his work. His passion for life and love, and the impending doom he felt achieves palpability in the percussion's pulse, the woodwinds' C minor arias in the third movement, and the brass' blues. Abbado's interpretation, whether instinctive or well-planned, hits the mark just like Bernstein, who pioneered the performance of Mahler's symphonies for concert-goers...
Ineffable pianissimos anticipate the loud reveilles and marches. Even Georg Solti with the Chicago Symphony (on London) cannot make the airs as sweet as Abbado does. If Solti got high with the Chicago before the 1970 release of his recording, Abbado, hardened by years of vicissitudes from fighting Mahler's Sixth, conducts the same troops ten years later with discipline and clear command...
Some listeners may not like Mahler's aesthetic in the first three movements. But anyone who tripped watching 50 helicopters roaring in with Ride of the Valkyries to get the "slopes" can't miss Abbado's finale. Get in a bathing suit and ride the surfboard on cue. Mahler, too, enjoyed swimming...