A fine recording of a rare masterpiece
Greg Hales | Vacaville, Ca USA | 03/27/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This recording of Das Klagende Lied is one the finest available. The conducting by Tilson Thomas has good insight and honest emotion...the former quality lacking in many of his performances. Thomas has the San Francisco ensemble in fine form. The orchestra sounds very good, though at times one wants more strings and the woodwinds to play with a quality that does'nt vanish in full enesmble tutti sections.The sing is some of best given to this work. At times however Thomas Moser sounds strained...mostly in the high range. The choral work is outstanding in everyway.With the possible exception of the Chailly recording, it seems clear that this is the finest recording out in the market."
MTT leads an exciting but lightweight Klagende Lied with var
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 08/10/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Although Mahler enthusiasts enjoy it, the youthful Klagende Lied hasn't found a concert audience--or much of one at Amazon, to judge by the lack of reviews for this CD. Tilson Thomas made it in 1997 when he was a PR darling in San Francisco, and it was a brave choice. His reading of the original three movements is crisply played and features a good deal of excitement, but it's all revved up on the surface. We get little sense of fantasy and mystery, which are crucial.
Also, despite the lovely singing of a youthful Michelle DeYoung, the other soloists are variable--Leiferkus sings clotted German with a Slavic timbre, and the tenor, Thomas Moser, sounds strained and baritonal. This was the first Klagende Lied I ever heard, and I'm grateful to have moved on to more convincing versions, such as Boulez's 1970 recording on Sony."