Search - Gustav Mahler, Eliahu Inbal, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra :: Mahler: Symphony No. 4

Mahler the musical philosopher-novelist ...

Pater Ecstaticus | Norway | 10/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Firstly, a little conundrum:



"The work itself [...] is a very satisfactory addition to my little family. It says something I have had on the tip of my tongue for a long time - perhaps (as a whole) best put beside the Fourth. (But quite different.)" - Gustav Mahler talking about his Ninth Symphony, August 1909. -



I have always felt that Gustav Mahler's Fourth Symphony somehow 'hides', behind a certain kind of playfulness and often almost easy-going songfulness (nonetheless, there are some quite shattering outbreaks of emotion throughout!), an emotional and philosophical depth and gravity that defies many of Mahler's own later symphonies which are more obviously 'questioning' and 'seeking', and more 'overtly emotional'. Also, the way that all of the preceeding music finds its pinnacle in the concluding song is a stroke of pure genius, even considering that the song had been there before any of the music had been composed. It is the genius of Mahler being able to extrapolate from just one song - but what possibilities lay buried there in the first place! - a whole world of imagination that is the whole symphony. But then again, Mahler's songs and symphonies are, almost organically, interlinked in a way that is unique in music.

This music is served best, I think, in a performance that doesn't try in any way to make the music sound any more sophisticated and profound than it already is. Less is more here, I believe. This is music speaks (sings), more than any of Mahler's other symphonies, I believe, of a wide-eyed, almost child-like, wonder - indeed, a deeply philosophical stance - before the deepest, profoundest questions about the meaning of life and death - without really giving an answer about the Ultimate Truth, of course (the final song is just a metaphore!). Gustav Mahler, in all of his symphonies - all chapters in one great novel of life, as it were -, confronts us (sometimes uncomfortably disturbing, especially in his Sixth Symphony) with 'just a possibility', as indeed he only could, because how could the man Gustav Mahler know the ultimate answers to life and death? In the end, we all have our own personal feelings when listening to this music, and, like when we are confronted with a profound philosophy, we must 'test' its veracity, or beter maybe: its applicability and ultimate meaning, against the events and circumstances of our own lives.

Eliahu Inbal makes this music sing, tell its 'story', and with it speak to the soul, as eloquently as can be wished for, IMHO. He brings out the fresh, wide-eyed 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn'-inspiration like no other, in clear orchestral colors (also a result of the wonderful recording quality as such - maybe the best in this stereo-CD format). But at the same time the conductor and orchestra let the music speak with as much inevitability and devastating force during the lighter ('world-as-eternal-present') passages and the darker, heavier passages of soul-searching and emotional outbreak (looking towards the beyond) respectively.

Mahler's Fourth Symphony is as much a profound window into his soul as any of his other symphonies, speaking in a language that is as eloquent and as complex as it is simple and beguiling, finding its pinnacle in a song that in its childlike naiveté almost defies serious contemplation. But it is Mahler's genius with his music that we are willing to go all the way with him! Because, in the end, isn't it so that it is not the words, but the music that really counts? And so, it is also the genius of a fine conductor to let the music speak to us in such a manner that we are willing to believe, or even be convinced of the Truth of what we hear. In that, Eliahu Inbal here - as in almost all of his Mahler cycle with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra - succeeds eminently, I believe. Highly recommended."

Mahler by Inbal

Juan Gilmas | Albuquerque, NM United States | 10/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All Mahler lovers know that Eliahu Inbal is one of the best, if not the best, interpreters/conductors of Mahler Symphonies. I have always had a particular fondness for the 4th and had not heard it by Inbal until I purchased this CD. I am very pleased as the symphony just sparkles and puts you in a good mood. I recommend listening to this in the morning with a leisurely cup of coffee, tea, or whatever you like. You won't be disappointed. Viva Mahler!"