Mahler: Symphony No.3

This set includes an interview with John Barbirolli by C.B. Rees. Gustav Mahler's Third Symphony is his longest, and the longest in all of the standard symphonic repertoire. It is a difficult work to perform well, and although there are many good recordings of it, there are few great ones. This 1969 recording by John Barbirolli with the Hallé Orchestra--an orchestra Barbirolli developed for twenty-seven years, and an ensemble to which he introduced Mahler's music--was called by Deryck Cooke "one of the finest Mahler performances I have ever heard." Indeed, it is truly worthy of its Legends label: Barbirolli was in firm command of the music and the orchestra; the players knew the music inside and out and poured themselves into it for him. There is some spotty work from the principal trumpet--a few pitch troubles, some tired-sounding passages in the first movement--but as an overall performance, this one is hard to beat. Most certainly, it is on par with Horenstein's recording or either of Bernstein's. Cooke urged EMI to issue this recording in 1970, but it has had to wait until now to escape the BBC's vaults. Another addition to this fine series, and an invaluable set in Mahler collections just beginning and those well underway.