Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde

[DavidRoss]

Good lord! What do we have to do to get this released on CD?

http://www.youtube.com/v/YfiA6wUHOI4

[North Star]

Good loard! What do we have to do to get this released on CD?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfiA6wUHOI4&feature=related

Thanks for the link, I haven't listened to it yet, but Abbado + Kaufmann + Otter must be awesome 

[mc ukrneal]

Good loard! What do we have to do to get this released on CD?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfiA6wUHOI4&feature=related

That's pretty great! Thanks! (currently my favorite is with Bertini - has Heppner who is outstanding).

[mjwal]

I listened to this live Abbado yesterday and must say I was disappointed with the singing: Kaufmann has a remarkable voice, but he affects a hoarse baritonal timbre at times that did nothing at all for me and several times uses an unsupported thin scratchy head voice when singing piano in the higher register, whether for effect or willy nilly I do not know. Otherwise he sings rather too loud and with little dynamic grading most of the time, suggesting nothing of the objective irony that other singers like Patzak, Haefliger or Melchert discover in their less overtly expressive renderings: it's all emotional outburst. As to von Otter - her voice is now almost threadbare and I found it embarrassing to listen to, her preferred means of expression being a sort of generalised "It's agony, Ivy" style of delivery. The alto Grace Hoffmann in the Rosbaud recording generally preferred by me is no great shakes (as many have pointed out) compared to the likes of Maureen Forrester, Nan Merriman or Janet Baker, but her singing in Der Einsame im Herbst is far less laboured than von Otter here, providing a firm vocal representation of the words to counterpart the layered tapestry Rosbaud conjures from the orchestra (if you want more feeling, then Nan Merriman supplies it in spades with most delicate singing without squeezing or pressing the tone). I cannot fault the orchestral performance, but as so often find the interpretative style of Abbado somewhat faceless: it was all curiously unmoving orchestrally, compared with the Rosbaud and the live Giulini, both of which gripped me far more, though Fassbaender was singing with an over-heavy vibrato by 1984 and the final "ewig"s have no magic in her rendition, despite Giulini's very tasteful conducting . I admit that most of my recorded LvdEs are of older provenance and can say nothing of more recent recordings; the technical realisation of Rosbaud's performance (1960) seems to me to uncover more of the complex interweave of instrumental strands than any of the more recent recordings I have heard, like Klemperer, Kubelik, Leppard, Giulini, Sanderling, Davis* or a live de Waart (1999).
*Jon Vickers - oh no!

[pbarach]

I agree about Otter. Her singing sunk this performance for me.

[Lilas Pastia]

Mjwal did you hear Jon Vickers in earlier times in Das Lied? There's a live Boston Symphony recording from 1971 under Steinberg with Maureen Forrester, in very good broadcast sound. I'd say this represents Vickers' heroic voice and artistry better than that later Davis recording - or the 1982 live under Boulez, where he struggles somewhat. It just so happens that this is IMO among Forrester's most touching renditions of her part - better than the Reiner recording, even slightly above the Szell.

[mjwal]

No, André, unfortunately not, and I'll look for it, especially because of Forrester - Steinberg is an underrated conductor and that's another reason, apart from hearing Vickers in good form (he was exciting in Leinsdorf's Walküre and the Beecham Messiah!). P.S. I saw him as Parsifal at Covent Garden in the early 70s and he impressed me a lot, though I was at that time unacquainted with most of the music.
As far as the EMI Klemperer is concerned I would like to know whether the most recent remastering is better that the first CD mastering, one of my very first CDs in around 1984. I find it sounds rather logy and suspect that may be partly due to the early digitalisation, though nothing could save "Von der Schönheit" from dragging insufferably. I know I shall never regain my first enthusiasm for that recording: unfortunately I am deaf to the charms of Christa Ludwig, who is of course a very estimable singer and does sound very good on that early recording of the Elektra recognition scene. Icannot understand why Maureen Forrester has not been given her due; she is for me the most necessary low-voice woman singer of the post-war period together with Janet Baker - I love to hear them both in Bach, Handel and Mahler.

[DavidRoss]

Thanks for the link, I haven't listened to it yet, but Abbado + Kaufmann + Otter must be awesome 

I thought so, too, based on my sampling of it before posting. I look forward to listening to the entire performance -- maybe I'll make time later today!

[Mandryka]

Mjwal did you hear Jon Vickers in earlier times in Das Lied? There's a live Boston Symphony recording from 1971 under Steinberg with Maureen Forrester, in very good broadcast sound. I'd say this represents Vickers' heroic voice and artistry better than that later Davis recording - or the 1982 live under Boulez, where he struggles somewhat. It just so happens that this is IMO among Forrester's most touching renditions of her part - better than the Reiner recording, even slightly above the Szell.

Can you upload it, or provide a link to where I can find it?

[DavidRoss]

I listened to this live Abbado yesterday and must say I was disappointed with the singing: Kaufmann has a remarkable voice, but he affects a hoarse baritonal timbre at times that did nothing at all for me and several times uses an unsupported thin scratchy head voice when singing piano in the higher register, whether for effect or willy nilly I do not know. Otherwise he sings rather too loud and with little dynamic grading most of the time, suggesting nothing of the objective irony that other singers like Patzak, Haefliger or Melchert discover in their less overtly expressive renderings: it's all emotional outburst. As to von Otter - her voice is now almost threadbare and I found it embarrassing to listen to, her preferred means of expression being a sort of generalised "It's agony, Ivy" style of delivery. The alto Grace Hoffmann in the Rosbaud recording generally preferred by me is no great shakes (as many have pointed out) compared to the likes of Maureen Forrester, Nan Merriman or Janet Baker, but her singing in Der Einsame im Herbst is far less laboured than von Otter here, providing a firm vocal representation of the words to counterpart the layered tapestry Rosbaud conjures from the orchestra (if you want more feeling, then Nan Merriman supplies it in spades with most delicate singing without squeezing or pressing the tone). I cannot fault the orchestral performance, but as so often find the interpretative style of Abbado somewhat faceless: it was all curiously unmoving orchestrally, compared with the Rosbaud and the live Giulini,

We must live in alternate universes.

This is an extraordinarily fine performance in every respect, the singers are superb, and Abbado and the orchestra deliver an impeccably committed and emotionally engaging performance. I will buy it when issued as an audio recording. If issued only as a DVD, I just might have to buy that!

[Lilas Pastia]

The link for the Steinberg broadcast is still active in The Gnome blogspot. Otherwise it's just impossible to find AFAIK. But it's there close to your fingertips . Steinberg's conducting is rather special too. Rather fast by the clockwatch, it's alive to every mood of the work. I was really impressed. Seek the gnome...

Forrester is easily one of the most underrated singers of the last half of the 20th century. Such a voice simply cannot be forgotten once heard. A dignified and touching contralto in Bach and Handel sacred works, she became alive to secular works' human emotions (such as Handel operas) and became positively harrowing and unforgettable in emotional character parts  such as Klytemnestra, the Pique Dame Countess or the Witch in Hansel und Gretel. Her last concert appearance was in Mahler's Resurrection sometime in the 80s. I heard it live from Toronto. It was memorable for its intensity, but she did the right thing by leaving the concert stage at the right time.


Unfortunately she was not recorded extensively (lack of interest or lack of contacts?). What remains is absolutely magical. Unparalleled IMO are her Mahler Wayfarer lieder and especially the Rückert lieder, as well as her Brahms Alto Rhapsody, under Fricsay (all on DGG).

[Mandryka]

The link for the Steinberg broadcast is still active in The Gnome blogspot. Otherwise it's just impossible to find AFAIK. But it's there close to your fingertips . Steinberg's conducting is rather special too. Rather fast by the clockwatch, it's alive to every mood of the work. I was really impressed. Seek the gnome...

Forrester is easily one of the most underrated singers of the last half of the 20th century. Such a voice simply cannot be forgotten once heard. A dignified and touching contralto in Bach and Handel sacred works, she became alive to secular works' human emotions (such as Handel operas) and became positively harrowing and unforgettable in emotional character parts  such as Klytemnestra, the Pique Dame Countess or the Witch in Hansel und Gretel. Her last concert appearance was in Mahler's Resurrection sometime in the 80s. I heard it live from Toronto. It was memorable for its intensity, but she did the right thing by leaving the concert stage at the right time.


Unfortunately she was not recorded extensively (lack of interest or lack of contacts?). What remains is absolutely magical. Unparalleled IMO are her Mahler Wayfarer lieder and especially the Rückert lieder, as well as her Brahms Alto Rhapsody, under Fricsay (all on DGG).

Can you post a link to the Gnome blogspot, or just repost the link to the record here? i can't find it.

[mjwal]

Can you post a link to the Gnome blogspot, or just repost the link to the record here? i can't find it.

It's called Metrognome Music, Mandryka - I've downloaded some interesting stuff from there but inexplicably overlooked the LvdE - many thanks, André. I shall report back on this.

[Lilas Pastia]

Here is the link to the page that hosts the music file. Fine broadcast sound.
http://metrognomemusic.blogspot.ca/2012/03/speaking-of-jon-vickers.html
Steinberg's tempi are volatile but seem inevitable, just right for the music. No agonizing portentousness in the Abschied here, the emotion is always à fleur de peau.

Steinberg is credited with a fantastic 7th played on tour by the BSO in Vienna. I haven't heard that one. Not to be missed are the Goldschmidt 3rd and 10th.The 3rd is quite controversial IMO, and in rather execrable sound but once you've heard it it makes many, many others sound like elevator music by comparison. The 10th is an unqualified success in reasonably good sound. Goldschmidt was a fine composer himself and learned his Mahler in Weimar Republic times. Egon Wellesz and Horenstein were very impressed with his conducting of the 3rd.

[Leo K.]

Here is the link to the page that hosts the music file. Fine broadcast sound.
http://metrognomemusic.blogspot.ca/2012/03/speaking-of-jon-vickers.html
Steinberg's tempi are volatile but seem inevitable, just right for the music. No agonizing portentousness in the Abschied here, the emotion is always à fleur de peau.

Steinberg is credited with a fantastic 7th played on tour by the BSO in Vienna. I haven't heard that one. Not to be missed are the Goldschmidt 3rd and 10th.The 3rd is quite controversial IMO, and in rather execrable sound but once you've heard it it makes many, many others sound like elevator music by comparison. The 10th is an unqualified success in reasonably good sound. Goldschmidt was a fine composer himself and learned his Mahler in Weimar Republic times. Egon Wellesz and Horenstein were very impressed with his conducting of the 3rd.

Wow~thanks for this!

[eyeresist]

"It's agony, Ivy"

Had to google this




Plus once again I recommend people hear the Tennstedt recording, if only so I can hear some opinions beside my own.

[kaergaard]

Thanks for the link, I haven't listened to it yet, but Abbado + Kaufmann + Otter must be awesome 

Not really! I watched it on Berlin's Digital Concerthall. Kaufmann seems to be the bystander, Von Otter takes over.

[mjwal]

Had to google this

You can tell how old I am, nicht wahr? A misspent youth listening to BBC radio 

Plus once again I recommend people hear the Tennstedt recording, if only so I can hear some opinions beside my own.

[eyeresist]

OFF TOPIC:

You can tell how old I am, nicht wahr? A misspent youth listening to BBC radio

Amazingly, BBC radio seems to still be fairly vital (though I'm not a listener - maybe I would be if I lived in the UK). Comedy groups the League of Gentlemen and the Mighty Boosh did radio shows before TV, and the ubiquitous Stephen Fry still pops up from time to time. I've noticed a most amusing chap called David Mitchell regularly appearing on QI - apparently he is on the radio too.

[Mandryka]

Have you got into French Radio comedy? There's something I listen to sometimes which reminds me of the Goon Show, called Le Duo des non, on Sud Radio. And there's an "I'm sorry I haven't a Clue" type thing on Sunday afternoons on France Culture.

http://www.duodesnon.com/

Also a thing I used t enjoy called Les chevaliers du fiel.