Title: By way of explanation
Product review: While I take the points of the reviewers above, a little context is helpful. The Mahler 3 on this record was a performance intended for radio broadcast. The producers, aware of the scale of the work, told Mitropoulos that the broadcast would end at the appointed time, whether or not the performance was concluded. Feeling that this was artistically brutal, the conductor made cuts to the score that he hoped would allow a full (albeit abridged) performance of the Third. It's quite possible that, with an eye on the clock, he hurried things along somewhat (I haven't heard my LP copy of the Köln performance in a while for comparison). The first movement is, I agree, a bit of a mess, though bravely played. The finale, that grand walk up to the gates of heaven, is profound and sublime. This should be no one's sole Mahler 3, but it is a unique (and given the place of the work in Mitropoulos' life and death) and valuable document nonetheless.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
