Georg Solti’s Mahler Eighth always has stood high on the list of recommendable versions, even for people who don’t normally warm to his nervy, high-powered approach to this composer (and just about everyone else as well). A true “sonic spectacular” on LP, the performance originally transferred poorly to CD, where the audio manipulations–the dubbed-in organ part and shifting perspectives of the soloists and offstage brass–were all too obvious. What Decca has achieved in this most recent remastering is a more integrated and natural sound picture, one that allows the listener to focus more on the performance’s purely musical qualities, which include an outstanding lineup of soloists (still the best the work has received) and some fabulous playing by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The fact that the performance has been reduced to a single, mid-priced disc is another huge bonus, and for many that may well make this the Mahler Eighth of choice. If I have any reservation at all, it’s that the closing pages don’t quite ignite the way they should, and do, in versions by Bertini (EMI), Bernstein (Sony), and Horenstein (BBC Classics). However, this is a very minor criticism of an otherwise splendid production. [10/17/1999]
