[Sans-Culotte]

I never heard his Mahler 2nd. Did you? If so, what did you think of it?

You did not address me, but I will give my thoughts nonetheless. I like Kaplan's Mahler 2. Like Kaplan, I am kind of a nut about the piece and have a gazillion recordings of it. I held off listening to it for decades, because I did consider Kaplan something of a fake. I think the only reason I ever heard it was because I wanted an SACD version of the symphony, and bought his version with the Vienna Philharmonic mainly for its sonics. I ended up liking the performance a lot, and eventually bought his London Symphony version (his more famous version).

As critic David Hurwitz said, there is no reason to hung up on the fact that Kaplan was not a 'born' conductor. He took lessons to learn to conduct, and in that respect could be compared to Sir Thomas Beechum. He certainly brought a passion for the work, which is more than can be said of many who have conducted it. Kaplan is not my 'go-to' conductor for the work, but I do respect what he did.

[trisham]

Interesting.

[kiryandil]

Finale of G Mahler's 2d Symphony - Vienna Concert house 17.2.13 - Austria [Gilbert Kaplan conducts WiennerKammerOrchester, 2min 25sec]:

[EveningStar]

Thank you. :)

[EveningStar]

He took lessons to learn to conduct, and in that respect could be compared to Sir Thomas Beechum.

Of course, unlike Kaplan, Beecham conducted many complete works - not just one.

[Demiurge2]

Thank you for intelligent, thoughtful observations.