Mahler vs. Strauss

To be sure, there's a good deal of Richard Strauss I like.  I truly love the Four Last Songs, the opera Ariadne Auf Naxos (some utterly sublime tunes!) and at least the opening fanfare of Thus Spake Zarathustra.  But yeah, I ultimately find him a little bit pat, noisy and empty. 

By comparison, Mahler conjures up universes you can walk around in and get lost inside of.  He can take you back to the dawn of history, to the first days of our planet. His Ninth Symphony takes you forward in time to a day where the earth is a smoking, poisonous ruin. 

Edcyn,

Nice!

Interesting question! As for the music itself, the short version is that I admire Strauss, but I adore Mahler. This emotional distinction may color my judgement on the sonic differences as well, but I’ll try to be as objective as I possibly can.

According to the experts Strauss had few peers as a orchestrator. But to my ears his arrangements are often very dense and saturated, some would even say perfumed. Although I must make an exception for the expressionist Elektra, an exceptional work in every way. Somehow his music doesn’t sit well with audio reproduction in the home and the sound stage easily gets ’clogged’. However in the concert hall even his most densely orchestrated pieces work very well, perhaps because there’s simply more room for the music to breathe.

Mahlers orchestrations are usually more ventilated and the huge forces required for his symphonies are used sparingly. Apparently the home system can more easily cope with that, perhaps because it gets the opportunity to ’catch its breath’. Of course when all hell breaks loose (or the heavens burst open), no home system can ever hope to reproduce the impact it has in the concert hall. This is an experience like nothing else. Very hard to put into words, but very easy to recall. Like that one time I heard the 6th in Vienna by the VPO, especially the finale. Just thinking about it brings me the shivers.....

Edgewear,

I completely concur
with your observations!

Interestingly, many years ago I had a totally different stereo setup, much less revealing, not as high end, but perhaps a little fuller. I had two small speakers in the rear of the room with a Lafayette device
to pick up ambient sound. It was in a smaller room than I listen in now.
On that set Strauss sounded marvelous, somehow, if not as sound staged, more imposing. It completely filled the smaller room with sound.
I miss that “Strauss room.”