Those of us who are something less than 100 per cent Mahlerians occasionally feel that the composer was at his most effective when controlled by a text, as in these three song groups and Das Lied von der Erde. Certainly Furtwangler, no Mahlerian, seems to have found, at the end of his life, an affinity with the earlier of the two cycles presented here, inspired by the voice and interpretation of the 27-year-old Fischer-Dieskau. Together they recorded what remains an unsurpassed version of the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, the singer spontaneously overwhelmed by the meaning of the text, the conductor revealing more of the inner workings of the score than any of his successors and drawing a sensuous response from the young Philharmonia. The recording, amazingly, hardly shows its age and comes up on CD sounding natural, refined and as beautiful as the performance.
Kempe and the BPO provide marginally less immaculate playing for the singer's equally fulfilling account of Kindertotenlieder. In both cases these performances seem to be more spontaneously heartfelt than the later ones on DG, though the better-played and recorded Kindertotenlieder with Bohm, in stereo of course (the EMI is in mono) is competitive with the latter.
With the Ruckert Lieder, the balance swings back DG's way. I think EMI have been unwise to extract this part of a 1980 recital and put it alongside the 1954 Fischer-Dieskau as that only shows the decline in his vocal powers. In any case, the orchestrated versions of these songs are to be preferred and the baritone's performance of these with Bohm is one of the most desirable of all his discs, especially the gloriously sung ''Ich bin der Welt''. So, I imagine, both CDs will be essential for admirers of this artist. I would hate to make a choice between them, but I guess the Fischer-Dieskau/Furtwangler classic would just incline me to EMI.'