Christa Ludwig

[Biffo]

For me the Klemperer/Wunderlich/Ludwig Das Lied von der Erde (hereafter DLE) is incomparable and Ludwig magnificent in Der Abschied.

Karajan wanted Ludwig to sing Isolde and she learned the role but backed out, a sensible decision. She recorded the Liebestod with Klemperer, not one of her best efforts. It is available on an EMI GROC along with two Wunderhorn and three Ruckert songs. She is excellent in 'Um Mitternacht' and 'Ich bin der Welt...'  though I have Janet Baker indelibly imprinted on my brain in these two songs.

Maureen Forrester is another favourite singer but I have a live performance from 1960 of DLE with Bruno Walter and unfortunately she sing with unvarying heavy vibrato throughout; I can't abide to listen to it. This is odd because it is not a problem in her live performance with Szell or, best of all, with Reiner. Was it Bruno Walter's choice? In his recordings with Kerstin Thorborg (1937) and Kathleen Ferrier (1952) both singers only use a moderate amount of vibrato (Ferrier perhaps more than Thorborg).

[Tsaraslondon]

For me the Klemperer/Wunderlich/Ludwig Das Lied von der Erde (hereafter DLE) is incomparable and Ludwig magnificent in Der Abschied.

Karajan wanted Ludwig to sing Isolde and she learned the role but backed out, a sensible decision. She recorded the Liebestod with Klemperer, not one of her best efforts. It is available on an EMI GROC along with two Wunderhorn and three Ruckert songs. She is excellent in 'Um Mitternacht' and 'Ich bin der Welt...'  though I have Janet Baker indelibly imprinted on my brain in these two songs.

I also love the Klemperer DLE, not least for Wunderlich's peerless singing of the tenor songs. However my favourite performance of all has become a live Kubelik version featuring Janet Baker in the lower songs. If you like Baker in Mahler, then you really need ot hear this.