Cinema Cycle - Mahler: Symphony No.3 / Symphony No.10 (Adagio)

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE: 09/22/2014

TITLE: Mahler: Symphony No.3 / Symphony No.10 (Adagio)

FORMAT: LaserDisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 2 hours 14 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 22.2 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 486.7

SYNOPSIS: (From Wikepedia)

In its final form, the work has six movements, grouped into two Parts:

1. Kräftig. Entschieden (Strong and decisive) [D minor to F major]
2. Tempo di Menuetto (In the tempo of a minuet) [A major]
3. Comodo (Scherzando) (Comfortably, like a scherzo) [C minor to C major]
4. Sehr langsam—Misterioso (Very slowly, mysteriously) [A minor]
5. Lustig im Tempo und keck im Ausdruck (Cheerful in tempo and cheeky in expression) [F major]
6. Langsam—Ruhevoll—Empfunden (Slowly, tranquil, deeply felt) [D major]

The first movement alone, with a normal duration of a little more than thirty minutes, sometimes forty, forms Part One of the symphony. Part Two consists of the other five movements and has a duration of about sixty to seventy minutes.

As with each of his first four symphonies, Mahler originally provided a programme of sorts to explain the narrative of the piece. At different times, he shared evolving versions of a program for the third symphony with various friends, including Natalie Bauer-Lechner, a close friend and confidante, Anna von Mildenburg, the dramatic soprano and Mahler's lover during the summer of 1896 when he was completing the symphony, and Max Marschalk, a music critic. In its simplest form, the program consists of a title for each of the six movements:

• "Pan Awakes, Summer Marches In"
• "What the Flowers in the Meadow Tell Me"
• "What the Animals in the Forest Tell Me"
• "What Man Tells Me"
• "What the Angels Tell Me"
• "What Love Tells Me"

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: A Massive piece of classical music with a full orchestra, soprano soloist and a choir.  Well shot with numerous camera angles and superbly conducted by Leonard Bernstein.

PROS AND CONS: Another one of the reasons that I got into LaserDiscs in the first place was the availability of classical works in the format.  Since I started collecting, I have amassed a large array of classical works and opera discs.  

This is a long piece of music. With the addition of the Adagio movement of Mahler’s 10th Symphony added to the program at the end, it lasted more than 2 hours.  

This work is performed by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein, neither are slouches at their craft so to critique the quality of the performance would be nit-picking.  It is very good and it is a joy to watch Bernstein conduct. The man really got into his music when he had the baton in his hand.  

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film.  [Not Available For This Title]

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

The summary of the project and a glimpse of what is coming up next can be found on my public LaserDisc spreadsheet.