A magnificent Mahler Sixth

Years ago, Mozart and Beethoven recordings dominated the record and CD catalogues. More recently, Mahler has taken over the mantle and top position for CD shelves in classical music shops. Octogenarian Mahlerian Bernard Haitink is probably working on his fourth Mahler cycle with the Chicago SO currently.

When Mahler turns up at the DFP Hall, there is also the guarantee of a full hall. Again, it is also refreshing to compare Claus Peter Flor's interpretation with Kees Bakels version. It is more direct and faster interpretation than Bakels, which had a slower fuse and had more emphasis on structure.

The Andante was especially lovely (here the string tone was just out of this world) and was placed third in the context of the whole symphony. This is fortunate, as my personal conviction is that it should also be placed third in the whole scheme of things - in line with what Benjamin Zander discussed on his Telarc CD of the Sixth. I was disappointed that Flor adopted the two "hammer-blows" approach to the score in the finale (rather than three hammer-blows that I prefer).

Nevertheless, I never tire of Claus Peter Flor's energetic conducting and I felt that this Mahler Sixth was even more enjoyable than Kees Bakels' interpretation. I would be looking forward to Flor's Mahler Third and Eighth if he were to do these gargantuan symphonies in the near future.