Search - Thomas Hampson, Gustav Mahler, Wolfram Rieger :: Mahler: Kindertotenlieder

Beautifully poignant

Maria-Ana Smith | Santarém, Portugal | 05/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this version of the Kindertotenlieder. After having heard the orchestral version with Fischer-Dieskau for hours and hours, I came across the Hampson-Rieger disk and fell in love with it. The piano versions bring out the pain in the songs much more than with orchestra acompaniment, and Thomas Hampson's voice and interpretation are absolutely "einmalig"!"

Piano, good; Hampson, good; Recording, muffled.

James H. Holland II | Geneva, NY USA | 06/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I like the piano score (NO orchestra on this recording! ALL piano and voice!). These piano versions are by Mahler, and it's interesting to see how he thought of the music *before* writing the orchestrations.



Hampson, the baritone, sounds fine here, and I have no complaints about the pianist.. BUT: the *acoustics* of this recording dampen my enthusiasm just as they dampen the sounds of the performance. It sounds as if it was recorded in a velvet-lined cave. I really *do* prefer "intimate" pieces (one singer, one piano) to show at least a little more *presence*.



If you are interested in hearing the piano versions of these, you can learn stuff from this recording... personally, though, it will remain a reference recording only, never an exciting favorite."

One baritone + one piano = underfed Mahler

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/24/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Hampson uses his considerable powers to inflate these piano renditions of Mahelr song cycles into something better than they are. One piano is not remotely adequate to represent Mahler's wonderfuly rich orchestral world, and Hampson overworks to compensate. A miss by a great singer."