Mahler's song-cycles
Janet Baker's classic Mahler songs disc
The Gramophone Choice
Kindertotenlieder*. Rückert-Lieder**. Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen**
Dame Janet Baker mez *Hallé Orchestra, **New Philharmonia Orchestra / Sir John Barbirolli
EMI 566981-2 (65‘ · ADD ·T/t). Buy from Amazon
The songs of the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (‘Songs of a Wayfarer’) are quoted from Mahler’s First Symphony and the fresh, springtime atmosphere is shared by both works. The orchestration has great textural clarity and lightness of touch. The Kindertotenlieder, more chromatically expressive than the earlier work, tap into a darker, more complex vein in Mahler’s spiritual and emotional make-up. The Rückert-Lieder aren’t a song-cycle as such but gather in their romantic awareness and response to the beauties of the poetry a unity and shape that binds them. Baker and Barbirolli reach a transcendental awareness of Mahler’s inner musings. Barbirolli draws from the Hallé playing of delicacy and precision, establishing a clear case for having this CD in your collection.
Additional Recommendation
Kindertotenlieder. Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. Rückert-Lieder. Lieder und Gesänge – No 1, Frühlingsmorgen; No 3, Hans und Grethe; No 5, Phantasie aus Don Juan; No 10, Zu Strassburg auf der Schanz; No 11, Ablösung im Sommer; No 12, Scheiden und Meiden; No 13, Nicht wiedersehen!
Stephan Genz bar Roger Vignoles pf
Hyperion CDA67392 (73’ · DDD · T/t). Buy from Amazon
Stephan Genz’s voice and style place him above his many noted contemporaries. His mellifluous baritone recalls that of a young Thomas Hampson but his understanding of the Lieder genre is even more penetrating, as this Mahler recital reveals. Each song is shaped as a whole yet with subtleties of phrase and word-painting that seem inevitable in every respect, especially as the chosen tempi always seem the right ones.
Performing and listening to these songs with piano is inevitably a more intimate experience than when they are heard in their orchestral garb. The pair’s rapport is evident throughout. Memorable are the the poise and stillness of ‘Ich atmet’ einen Linden duft’ from the Rückert-Lieder, the eloquent sadness of ‘Nicht Wiedersehen’ and the restrained sorrow of the whole of Kindertotenlieder. Not a hint of sentimentality, such a danger in Mahler, spoils the experience of the composer’s deeply felt emotions.
Hyperion’s recording, beautifully balanced, catches the true quality of Genz’s voice and the refinement of Vignoles’s playing. Not to be missed by any lover of Mahler or of Lieder.
