Search - Thomas Hampson, Andreas Schmidt, Gustav Mahler :: Mahler I: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon [Box Set]

The opening third of Bernstein's second Mahler cycle, with s

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 06/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The reviewer below insults Bernstein's stature by calling him an 'old geezer'--the conductor was in his sixties during his second Mahler cycle, the last recordings made as he turned seventy. DG has divided its famous Bernstein Mahler recordings into three box sets, of which this is the first. It contains some performances that stand among the best ever made.



Among these the critical favorites have always included Sym. #1, which is a splashy, propulsive reading that contains every ounce of color and drama the composer put in. Sym. #2, a remake with the same NY Phil. that first recorded the work under Bernstein two decades before, is also a signature work for the conductor, and although the earlier version sounds fresher and has more interesting details, the remake is a titanic reading with the finale rising to apocalyptic intensity. (I was amused that The Gramophone reviewer missed Simnon Rattle's "magnificent studied caution.")



Bernstein's earlier version of Sym. #3 from 1961 is justly famous. It rehabilitated a work that hadn't been touched on records even by great Mahler champions like Walter, Klemperer, and Mitropoulos, and on its own merits was a stunning interpretation. So is the remake with the same NY Phil., and even if it can't quite recapture the sublime earlier account, DG's sonics are better--this holds true for almost all the recodings in the second cycle, even though they were caught under live concert conditions.



Sym. #4 had the reputation of being a weak link in the earlier cycle, and it's certainly true that Reri Grist's soprano is unusually light and rather quavery. But that aside, the earlier Fourth was remarkably fresh and engaging. This later Fourth, with the controversial choice of a boy soprano for the finale, is more studied and manipulted. Some critics prefer it, but I don't, and the boy soprano, Helmut Wittek, is clearly not the equal of an adult singer.



The rest of the set is taken up with two song cycles, Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen and Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Thomas Hampson is outstanding in the earlier cycle, although I feel that Bernstein's fiery conducting pulls the songs into a realm of intensity where the singer has a hard time going. The Wunderhorn cycle is a major disappointment. Lucia Popp's voice had matured into a dark, throaty, wobble-afflicted sound I don't like. Andreas Schmidt is virtuosic in his control, but he is often let down by Bernstein's insistence on extremely slow speeds. Critics who ovelook these flaws have given more praise than I can msuter. Bernstein's earlier version with Walter Berry and Christa Ludwig is much better.



DG has been stingy about allowing their treasury of Bernstein Mahler recordings on to budget lines, and by dividing it into thirds, they still ask a high price for the whole thing. But the good news is that each part of the trilogy is fairly inexpensive on the used market."

The First Third Of Bernstein's Deutsche Grammophon Mahler Re

John Kwok | New York, NY USA | 06/22/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Artistically, Leonard Bernstein's Deutsche Grammophon Mahler Symphony cycle (One which he did not live to record, so Deutsche Grammophon included a 1970s recording that he had made.) is a mixed blessing, but one which still deserves ample attention from fans of Mahler's symphonic music and others since he had a well-deserved reputation for being one of the foremost champions of Mahler, especially in the late 1950s and 1960s. Sonically, Deutsche Grammophon's 1980s cycle has much to admire, especially since many of the recordings were made during live concert performances. This still expensive box set is part one of a three-part repackaging by Deutsche Grammophon of the entire set of Bernstein's Mahler recordings, featuring Mahler's first four symphonies and two of his orchestral song cycles.



My personal favorites within this box set includes Bernstein's excellent performances of the Mahler 1st Symphony, which is replete with elegant playing from the winds and horns of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and one that is not marked by "mannered" interpretations, with the possible exception of Bernstein's glacially slow tempi for the "slow" movement. Overall the Amsterdam-based orchestra - one of several with whom Bernstein would have an artistically fertile relationship at the end of his career - gives one of the finest accounts of this symphony that I've heard. Another personal favorite is Bernstein's fine account of the Mahler 2nd "Resurrection" Symphony performed exquisitely by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra with Christa Ludwig and Barbara Hendricks as vocal soloists; this remains among the best recordings of this symphony ever made, even with newer, sonically improved renditions from the likes of Abbado and Chailly among others."