Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 9
Berliner Philharmoniker/Herbert von Karajan
rec. live, September 1982, Philharmonic, Berlin
Deutsche Grammophon 4390242 [2 CDs: 84]

This was recorded during the Berlin Festival and is often cited as one of Karajan’s greatest later recordings, superior in terms of the sheer sumptuousness of the playing to his studio recording of 1979-80, and enhanced both by the excellent, early digital sound, and the fact that despite being live, it is largely error-free – unlike that studio account which famously retained a mistake by the E-flat clarinet in the third movement, which comes in a bar early, rather than correcting it with a re-take. (For the fastidious, however, I note that there is a tiny woodwind blip at 1:41, track 3, in the first movement here.) There is also a recording of an excellent live performance from 1^st May the same year and circulating privately, but that is not in such good sound. That is a couple of minutes faster and thus on one CD, whereas this DG commercial release is on two – though I haven’t checked if the pitch is correct on that private recording. As far as I can ascertain, although this DG issue has quite frequently been referenced approvingly, it has never been specifically reviewed on this site.

By all accounts, Karajan was deliberately aiming for a “veiled” sound achieved after many hours of rehearsal, and unsurprisingly sheer beauty is the predominant feature here. That does not preclude high drama; for instance, the orchestral climax in the “Bewegter” section (track 6) is overwhelming; not all conductors give the tam-tam crash such prominence. I remarked in my recent review of Bychkov’s box set of Mahler symphonies that I sometimes found the Ninth to contain longueurs, especially in the inner movements, and for some listeners the perfection of the playing and the cool restraint of Karajan’s direction are too detached and alienating – but I do not find this to be so here, even though I understand why others might look for more emotive volatility of the kind Bernstein engendered. In fact, I find Karajan to be more successful in generating and sustaining tension than Bychkov. In the concluding few minutes of the first movement, there is first real drive and momentum before the serenity of the close, and although the second Ländler movement begins very steadily, the low strings really dig into the rhythms and the variety of orchestral colour is constantly engaging; there is even a perky charm to the flute coda.

The Rondo Burleske is attacked with vigour and the precision of the BPO’s playing at speed is remarkable – indeed, Karajan’s pace is notably brisker than most conductors and that adds a kind of frenzied excitement, yet there is a noble splendour to the slow, nostalgic muted trumpet passage beginning at 1:23, track 4 before the sneering clarinets.

The finale is eery and otherworldly in its concentration and purity of tone; I have never before been quite so struck by the kinship of its spare, transparent sound-world and mood of resignation with Das Lied von der Erde, yet the climax in track 13 is enormously powerful; I don’t think any other cohort of violins could ever have generated such vibrant intensity. The final dissolution, by contrast, is ineffably poised and delicate – and there is absolutely no audience noise throughout.

This is a performance which completely gives the lie to the lazy accusation that Karajan was always about smooth, superficial beauty; it is in fact as absorbing an account of Mahler’s Ninth as any I know.

Ralph Moore

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