Preview: Michael Gielen Hated My Liner Notes (But His 10 Best Recordings Are Amazing)

Michael Gielen's recorded legacy is one of uncompromising dedication to the notion that music represents a "truth" that is often as ugly, cruel and painful as it is pleasant, beautiful and enjoyable. Sometimes the music fit his "concept" and sometimes it didn't, but one thing is certain: his interpretations were seldom merely comfortable. He also hated the liner notes I wrote for his Mahler cycle. Go figure.
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[@msilverz]

Yes. The contrast between your wonderfully descriptive and illuminating notes for his Mahler 2 and his incomprehensible and useless notes for his Mahler 3 could not be more stark. I vividly remember being disappointed when I discovered the latter, but then I learned about your Mahler book!

[@mhc2231]

I’m glad you mentioned Gielen’s Beethoven. I actually like his SWR symphony cycle very much, in fact I like it better than the Zinman cycle which I never connected with (I’m a minority there I think). Also, it was interested to hear that you write liner notes like you make videos - guiding the novice and veteran listener simultaneously. When it coms to Mahler, I am definitely a novice and would love to hear you speak about HOW and where to approach such a monumental body of work. I wonder if you could do a video giving the Mahler neophyte a roadmap to follow - landmark by landmark. Thanks for all your great videos, David.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I like it better than Zinman also.

[@tarakb7606]

Same here. I really like his Beethoven.

[@murraylow4523]

Well, Dave, so much music acquisition lately sparked by you - I’d love all these boxes but let’s see if they stick around a bit! In this connection, I have been exploring those UE Mahler talks, just fascinating thanks. Gielen’s is in German so I’ll have to reserve for a moment of concentration… The Boulez one is rather charming though, with due deference to Rosbaud who he clearly had a sincere friendship with. And he admits how unsatisfactory some of his earlier Mahler conducing was! I don’t know how good friends he was with Gielen but then there was that whole Baden Baden thing going on there so probably quite close

[@AlexMadorsky]

Many conductors insist that we should entirely ignore composer biography and historical context, focusing solely on the score and the performance, so it is interesting Gielen insisted upon rather the opposite. It sounds like Gielen laid the pseudo-intellectual goop on pretty thick, but I’ll try to read his essay eventually anyway. I can’t wait to jump over to the Top 10 - I bet the SWR Mahler 7th will be on there, maybe another Mahler 7th too.

[@therealdealblues]

Interesting story on the liner notes. Nice to see his Beethoven set get mentioned as I haven't seen anyone talk about it at all. Hope to maybe see some more in depth reviews of the other Gielen boxes (for good or bad) at some point in the future.

[@stevenmsinger]

There are so many amazing recordings of Gielen, but for me his Schoenberg is unmatched. His was the first version of Pelleas und Melisande that really made sense - such clarity of line without getting clogged up in the chromaticism. And his Transfigured Night is gorgeous! Just gorgeous! Moreover, he makes the atonal works sound like a natural extension of the tonal ones. People rave about Boulez in this music - and he is great - but Gielen is so much better!

[@tarakb7606]

I quite agree. Much as I love some of Boulez's conducting, if had to choose between the two, I would go for Gielen.

[@ernestrobles1510]

I remember his Schubert Ninth in which he took the introduction in cut time, not the usual broad 4/4. The effect was startling. Whatever else might be said about him, he had the courage of his convictions.

[@stpd1957]

Thanks David, I will get the Beethoven and Mahler box sets

[@tarakb7606]

A fantastic conductor. My idea of what a "real" musician should be. I am the proud owner of seven of the box sets in the series. His Beethoven was terrific, the DVD cycle is a joy to watch as well as as to listen to. His Brahms and Bruckner were also, IMO, very impressive. The SWR Orchestra may not have been the world's greatest, but with Gielen in charge they were more than good enough.

[@vilebrequin6923]

What about his Haydn? Worth investigating?

[@dennischiapello3879]

Very interesting. I can't get my mind off the question of what on earth by Puccini is he conducting? Unless, that is, it's a complete opera. I'm sure he'd do a searing Madame Butterfly. Seriously.

[@ahartify]

Would you say that Gielen is like Theodor Adorno who didn't approve of Mahler's 'joyfully redemptive' symphonies like the 2nd, 3rd and 8th? Adorno, as you'd expect, loved the 6th for telling the 'horrible truth' of existence, whatever that is.

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yes, but Gielen conducted terrific performances of all three. I think he was able to view them in context, as part of the larger Weltanschaung, or some such philosophical frippery.

[@ahartify]

Thanks! I'll listen to those then.