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Posted by Alan Cook on February 1, 2026, 12:41 pm, in reply to "Re: Martinon Chicago SO Mahler 10"
St Laurent Studio also issued a CD transfer of the Martinon Chicago performance and they also gave dates of May 19-20 1966
SLS also issued a CD Transfer of a later performance by Martinon of Mahler 10 - May 27th 1970 with the Orchestre National de l'ORTF in Salle Playel, Paris.
In this correpondence,s I don't think I have seen a mention of Vladimir Ashkenazy's performance of Mahler 10 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as part of their 2010-11 Centenary Complete Cycle. It was recorded live, in Sydney Opera House, on May 11-14th 2011 and issued, on the orchestra's 'Own Label' in 2012, The booklet points out that Ashkenazy took some time to decide which 'version' to perform before finally opting foe the Barshai. Is this on RMo's 'list'?
Previous Message
Paul, I have downloaded that performance and written a review which will appear in due course; thank you. There is some debate about the performance date(s). The big Chicago box set and ChatGPt say this was performed (and broadcast, presumably on one day only) on 19 & 20 May 1966, although you and I were going by the HDTT website, which I suspect is wrong. Previous Message
I would be interested in Ralph Moore's opinion of Jean Martinon's recording of the Cooke performing version, live from February 12, 1966. It is available from High Definition Tape Transfers, in excellent sound with virtually no extraneous noise.
It is something of an outlier, dispatching the symphony in under 67 minutes, whereas the others I've heard (Rattle/Berlin, Gielen, Harding) run well over 70 minutes. It's lean and exceptionally transparent (a little like Barshai, though that conductor performs his own realisation). The difference comes mainly in the first and last movements, where Martinon takes under 21 minutes while the others are around 25.
I wouldn't want this to be my only recording of the 10th, but I wouldn't want to be without it either. It seems to me valid on its own terms. The pervasive foreboding that runs through this symphony is less subtle-it's right out in the open. However, the classical virtues of clarity and proportion prevent it from turning into a shriek-fest
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Martinon Chicago SO Mahler 10 - Paul Breslin January 30, 2026, 6:10 pm
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