Search - Matthias Goerne, Gustav Mahler, Riccardo Chailly :: Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn

Another benchmark

L. Gallagher | Los Angeles, CA United States | 10/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Chailly's recording of "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" sets another benchmark, which is to say it rivals Abbado's recent set with Quasthoff and von Otter. In truth, the two sets are not really in competition with one another, for Chailly's set includes both more songs (the further addition of "Das himmlische leben," associated with Mahler's Fourth Symphony, as well as the "Urlicht" from the Second, which Abbado's set also includes) and more singers (four instead of two), not to mention an entirely different sequence to the songs. It's impossible to choose between conductors -- both are top-notch, with Chailly perhaps emphasizing the quicksilver elements and Abbado more attuned to the elegance and morbidezza of the lyric moments. But then Chailly does have Barbara Bonney singing "Das himmlische leben" in what sounds like the performance of a lifetime. I cannot recall a performance of this song that marries innocence and uncanny wistfulness more beautifully than this one. Some of her recent recordings have revealed a certain wear on the voice, and this recording is no exception. Her breath control in "Wo die schonen Trompeten blasen," for example, remains phenomenal, but the voice can no longer ride into the upper register with the tonal purity it used to command effortlessly. But on this recording, at least, Bonney seems to have found a way to exploit the shifting center of gravity of her voice, and she creates a heartbreakingly poignant reenactment of the dialog between parting lovers. Comparison with von Otter's recording of the same song is telling. No one can create the impression of recessed grief like von Otter, and her version of the song is astonishing in a different way: iridescent tone and classical purity of line present the aural equivalent of a Pre-Raphaelite memory of a medieval illumination or tapestry. (No exaggeration.) Bonney's version shows the eroticism, fear, and pain more directly. As for the baritones, again only personal taste can be the judge: Quasthoff's singing is more robust and also more grainy; Goerne's is more suave and insinuating. The real bonuses on the Chailly disc are perhaps the contributions of the late Gosta Winbergh, in a thrilling performance of the murderously difficult "Revelge," and Sara Fulgoni, who nearly steals the entire show. Her performance of "Urlicht" easily eclipes von Otter's for Abbado (which is saying A LOT), and comes very, very close to matching the ethereal beauty of Janet Baker's performance at Ely Cathedral for Leonard Bernstein in the mid-seventies -- it's that good."

Amazing Achievement!

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 04/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The recorded catalogue of works by Gustav Mahler continues to grow and fortunately so do performances of his works in the concert halls around the world. With so many recordings from which to choose, recommending the 'best' is completely impossible. There is much more leeway when it comes to the symphonies: Mahlerites tend to lean toward the Rattle/ Tilson Thomas/ Salonen/ Boulez school or the Giulini/ Walter/ Bernstein school but even that leaves an inordinate number of successful conductors unmentioned. The Song Cycles of Mahler are less frequently recorded and also they are often recorded in combination with a few of one cycle plus a few from another etc. It is then with rather great clarity that one approaches this recording of DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN, with the urgent and sensitive Riccardo Chailly conducting the magnificent Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, primarily because of the opportunity to hear the cycle divided among such incredible talents as Matthias Goerne, Barbara Bonney, Sara Fulgoni and Gosta Winbergh. Having just experienced a performance of the cycle by Goerne alone with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, I thought these radiant songs could not be better performed. It will take many hearings of other singers' "Urlicht", whether in this cycle or in the position in the Symphony No 2, to erase the glow of Goerne's interpretation, but sure enough - on this recording that same song is utterly breathtaking as sung by Sara Fulgoni. Goerne and Bonney are in fine fettle, finding the core of each song and communicating the text with ravishing tone and technique. This is one of the finest Mahler recordings available and since the DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN songs play such an important role in the first four symphonies of Mahler, this seminal recording seems essential to all Mahler libraries. Truly a remarkable feat!"

Resplendent array of colorful panels

Pater Ecstaticus | Norway | 01/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'Revelge' is maybe my favorite Wunderhorn song (as it was one of Mahler's) and the tenor is my favorite voice, and here they are, for the first time that I know of, combined into one, and in a magnificent way: brash and energetic, but with sumptuousness of tone and at the same time also mellifluous playing - almost a given with this orchestra under this conductor. This song alone, as performed here, for me, constitutes one of the many highlights of this beautiful album (along with, for example, Barbara Bonney's exquisite 'Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen').

To my (quite amateur) ears, this album is artistically speaking a resounding succes. I mean, who would ever doubt the artistry of Barbara Bonney and Matthias Goerne in this repertoire?! Their rich and full timbres are perfectly suited for these deeply felt songs, and make the worlds of imagination that lay behind them really come alive in a special way.

Secondly, I do prefer the songs with dialogue to be performed by one singer alone (as meant by Mahler, by the way), and not by two, so that is worth an 'extra half a star' or so in itself already. Here it comes down to the singer being able to subtly voice-act as well as sing, wile at the same time trying to keep (dramatic) cohesion within the songs. Happily, Chailly has chosen for this artistically most logical and for the listener (certainly this one) most rewarding option. Here, by the way, he has chosen the same as Claudio Abbado has done with his singers (Anne Sofie von Otter and Thomas Quasthoff) on his equally (or maybe even more) artistically stunning recording of the songs of Des Knaben Wunderhorn.

Actually, it is quite impossible to really compare these two recordings, as they are the result of two different visions by two different conductors, I think. Not that I would (or could: I simply lack the musical knowledge and education) go into the many differences between the two albums here, but I would like to stress one difference, at least to my ears. To me, with Chailly there is this stressing of the multi-coloredness, the inspirational diversity of the many different worlds of imagination represented by these love-, soldier-, wandering- and children's songs, originationg from a time period spanning from German medieval times until the 18th century. A multi-colored, resplendent array of different panels, all in subtly differing styles, all hanging side by side.

While on the other end, Claudio Abbado, supporting the intelligent artistry of Anne Sofie von Otter and Thomas Quasthoff, seems like no other conductor able to stress the cohesive whole connecting all of these songs, first and foremost belonging to that one combining imagination: the mind and genius of Gustav Mahler. Anyhow, there is a dramatic concentration from beginning to end with Abbado that is not so much present here with Chailly, also inherent in the fact that Chailly uses four different singers (stressing the need for difference in coloration and characterization for the different songs). The recorded soundpicture with Abbado is, to my ears, more 'intimate' (much less reverberation), stressing the inward concentration. Moreover, this sense of 'intimacy' is also heigtened by the playing of the orchestra: sounding almost chamber-ensemble-like most of the time, the subtlety of Mahler's orchestrations, matching the different moods, really coming to the fore.

In the end, I believe that each one of these two albums is as legitimate as the other. Both quite different, both quite beautiful. In the end, what one likes the best about one of these two recordings is a matter of taste. I, for one, immensely like both and could not now do without any of them.

Anyhow, this recording with Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, while setting no new standards by itself maybe (maybe the Abbado/Otter/Quasthoff does), IMHO can easily hold its ground with such classics as the Szell/Schwarzkopf/Fischer-Dieskau recording (this last one marred only by the splitting up of the dialogue sections between the two singers). Anyhow, whatever the monumental standard of this great, classic album, Ricardo Chailly and Claudio Abbado have again both disproven the age-old and wrong adage that 'in the past, everything used to be better' gloriously with their magnificent recordings of these songs.



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