Search - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gustav Mahler, Daniel Barenboim :: Mahler: Lieder

Neither drunk nor stoned!

D. Lamoureux | Massachusetts | 11/04/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I believe the preceding review of what is a truly fine CD is misleading enough that I need to respond to it. I was interested in getting another Fischer-Disekau interpretation of Mahler's early songs, to add to an earlier recording he had made with Leonard Bernstein in the Bernstein Century series on Sony. That unfavorable review might have fooled me, but its claims were solidly refuted when I listened to the brief Amazon online excerpts.



To suggest that Barenboim played badly, as if he were not even sober, is an ignorant and irresponsible statement. Although there are a very few places where you can hear Barenboim make a mistake, they are minor note flubs and hardly noticeable. Frankly, I'm glad to hear them and to know that this is a real performance by real, fallible performers and not an over-edited and thus artificially perfect recording.



There are two things to keep in mind when hearing a pianist play Mahler songs, and perhaps this is where the previous reviewer was confused. First, this is repertoire where a solitary pianist with merely ten fingers is playing a keyboard reduction of an orchestral score, and it's often extremely awkward under the hands. In addition, especially in the Wunderhorn songs, as frequently happens in the symphonies, Mahler is sometimes after an unusual or even grotesque effect, and this may sound like the pianist is banging or playing badly.



I find Barenboim's playing on this CD to be sensitive and technically secure. Listen to his subtle rhythmic flexibility and finely calibrated dynamic differentiations in "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen," and you can hear that he's completely in control of the piano part, hardly drunk or stoned. Not even a little tipsy...



As for Fischer-Dieskau, he was 52 when he made this recording, ten years after the Bernstein recording. (EMI's CD cover is rather misleading, as it contains a photo of a very young F.D. A more accurate photo of the two performers is in the inside cover.) His sound is a bit thinner on top and he strains sometimes, more noticeably in the Wunderhorn cycle than elsewhere. But, as with many singers, what he has lost in pure beauty of sound and ease of technique is balanced by his greater maturity as a singer and as a human being.



It's instructive to compare this recording of "Ich bin der Welt" with the earlier Bernstein version. Typically, Lenny gives a rendition that's highly dramatic and very slow (nearly a minute longer than the Barenboim version). Although both always bring tears to my eyes, I find myself more moved by the understated Barenboim interpretation than by Lenny's equally beautiful but more overtly dramatic one.



In summary, this is a sensitive and artistic performance by these two great musicians, and one that you can buy without being worried about its quality. This is a beautiful performance, and I'm glad I didn't miss it."