MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde (Kožená, Skelton)
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Gustav Mahler
Genre:
Vocal
Label: BR Klassik
Magazine Review Date: 11/2018
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 64
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 900172
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
(Das) Lied von der Erde, 'Song of the Earth' |
Gustav Mahler, Composer
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Gustav Mahler, Composer Magdalena Kozená, Mezzo soprano Simon Rattle, Conductor Stuart Skelton, Tenor |
Author: Hugo Shirley
But what is perhaps most immediately striking is the detail and brilliance of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra’s playing. Every flutter-tongued quiver and celesta-lined shiver in the score comes across with a vividness that outdoes the earlier CBSO recording. Rattle’s own approach has matured noticeably in the interim, too, now pushing more to the extremes, more daringly plumbing the depths, allowing itself to linger on the bursts of autumnal sunlight that suddenly break out. Listen to the yearning gorgeousness we get in the central section of ‘Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde’ (from about the four-minute mark), for example – helped by terrific solo playing, from the cor anglais in particular. There’s an especially melting, relaxed quality at the heart of ‘Der Trunkene im Frühling’, too.
Both moments are helped by Skelton’s sensitivity. The voice is sounding a little less focused these days, perhaps – and lacks the steel of Peter Seiffert on Rattle’s earlier recording – but he still makes a fine, handsome sound and offers something special in his moving reactions to the poetry. Kožená in her songs offers singing of supreme beauty. In fact, she sings almost too beautifully at times: she occasionally feels a little cool, and is not quite willing or able to indulge in the blank, vibrato-free effects we get from some in ‘Der Abschied’, for example. But taken on its own terms this is artistry of the highest level, and ultimately deeply moving.
Despite Kožená’s fine performance, though, in Mahler’s vast final song, it’s Rattle’s achievement that arguably makes the strongest impression. The playing is again superb (particularly the solo oboe), and Rattle manages the half-hour span with masterful control, no better than in the desolate soundscapes of the middle section (from around 16'00"), where clarity and patience help to build a sense of devastatingly quiet, heavy power. Not a conventional Lied, perhaps, but a fascinating and beguiling one: highly recommended.
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