Search - Gustav Mahler, Ludwig van Beethoven, Arnold Schoenberg :: Transfiguration: Mahler: Adagietto from Symphony 5 / Beethoven: Quartet in F minor, Op. 95 (arr. string orchestra) / Schoenberg: Verklarte Nacht / with historic excerpts

One of the best CDs in my entire collection

Steven Guy | Croydon, South Australia | 10/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I would have paid twice the price of this CD simply for this recording of Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht ("Transfigured Night"). This is a recording I have listened to oh-so many times and it still moves and amazes me.



Yes, this is a recording on period instruments or authentic instruments or HIP or whatever you want to call it. The Smithsonian Chamber Players play period instruments and they have done their homework on this piece - see tracks 7, 8, 9 and 10. The result is beautiful - we hear a misty, Expressionist/Impressionist late 19th century work - cool and decadent, like a fading flower. I have never felt the need to buy another recording of this work.



The Adagietto from Mahler's fifth symphony is informative, too. It gives us a real feel for late 19th/early 20th century performance practices. Mahler's arrangement of Beethoven's quartet in F minor, op. 95 in enjoyable, too.



However, this disc is really all about the recording of the Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht and the sublime recording of that work is why you should seriously consider this disc.



"

Interesting, but Probably Not a Keeper

Karl W. Nehring | Ostrander, OH USA | 07/25/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Be forewarned: this CD is fascinating from the point of view of someone who loves Mahler and wants to learn all he or she can; however, it is also a CD that even for the Mahler fan will probably not be played more than a few times. I will quickly say that I enjoyed the chamber orchestra arrangement of the Beethoven quartet, but have no real desire to hear it again, and let's face it, Verklarte Nacht is something that many music lovers want to hear only occasionally. When you get right down to it, then, the only real attraction on this disk is the Mahler Adagietto.



While Kaplan makes a point of playing the Adagietto faster than most conductors tend to play it (7:57 -- the excellent Abbado 5th on DG has it at 9:01, while I seem to recall that Leonard Bernstein would linger over it for 10 or 11 minutes), Slowik gets through it in an even faster 7:28. And while Kaplan draws a beautiful sound from the London Symphony Orchestra, the smaller forces under Slowik, playing older instruments and sliding spookily (portamento) between notes, manage to make an entirely familiar and beautiful piece of music sound downright strange, perhaps even a bit weird.



As I said at the outset, this will be of interest to hard-core Mahler fans. Believe me, folks, you'll probably never hear another Adagietto that sounds quite like this one--and you'll probably never want to again once you've heard it--but you've really got to hear it at least once."