Das Lied von der Erde Centenary Nov 20 1911

[Bryn]

Well I will not bre spinning this one:



Which I foolishly purchased out of curiosity.

[Alison]

Poor Nethersage. And its a SACD which always compounds the letdown factor somehow ....

[Bryn]

Poor Nethersage. And its[sic] a SACD which always compounds the letdown factor somehow ....

Alison, I am shocked and appalled.

[Biffo]

The audibility of the tenor soloist depends on the recording balance and the tenor himself. A heldentrnor like Jess Thomas has no difficulty in making himself heard without resorting to shouting. The problem with a heldentenor is then, can they scale their voices down for the more delicate movements? Thomas manages it pretty well for Krips. The young Fritz Wunderlich has no problems with Schmidt-Isserstedt but both soloist are very forwardly balanced. For Klemperer, Wunderlich at times sounds strained and almost drowns in the main climax but for me this adds rather than detracts from the performance.

[Roehre]

The audibility of the tenor soloist depends on the recording balance and the tenor himself..

As far as I am aware audibility of soloists is something which should result from the composition/orchestration in itself, not by artificialities like recording balances. If this were the case, then we should introduce miking soloists in works like LvdE . Why should soloists and so-called "opera singers" (who never have done an opera, or perhaps even haven't seen an opera house from inside) ever take the trouble to sing properly (and un-miked)then ?

[Barbirollians]

I found the Wunderlich /DFD a bit of a let down but I suspect because I had unrealistic hopes for it .

I still think after Ferrier or Baker that a baritone always sounds second best

[Barbirollians]

I see there is another Baker recording out there - with Kubelik on Audite - worth getting ?

[Petrushka]

I see there is another Baker recording out there - with Kubelik on Audite - worth getting ?

I bought this recording a fortnight ago but haven't played it yet. I know Sunday would be a good day to hear it but I am dead set on playing Bruno Walter as he did conduct that first performance after all.

[Osborn]

I'm not a Mahler enthusiast but I love Lied van der Erde as long as Baker or Ferrier aren't involved. Fortunately there is a marvellous live performance on Youtube (I think it was this year) by Semyon Bychkov with the glorious Waltraut Meier & Torsten Kerl (tenor). I'll watch that again - I recall that Bychkov is shaking & gulping with emotion at the end.

[Petrushka]

I'm not a Mahler enthusiast but I love Lied van der Erde as long as Baker or Ferrier aren't involved. Fortunately there is a marvellous live performance on Youtube (I think it was this year) by Semyon Bychkov with the glorious Waltraut Meier & Torsten Kerl (tenor). I'll watch that again - I recall that Bychkov is shaking & gulping with emotion at the end.

And here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J99Ug16a9g Complete performance, too!

[Mandryka]

For me, Das Lied suffers from its pre-publicity. I read the Mahler quote about him wondering whether people would be able to listen to it without killing themselves before I'd actually heard it; after a build-up like that, it could only be a disappointment (albeit only a mild one).

I've since learned to enjoy DLVDE for what it is: Walter's is, objectively, the best performance but I also like Klemperer's: the alpha and omega of Mahler performance.

[Biffo]

As far as I am aware audibility of soloists is something which should result from the composition/orchestration in itself, not by artificialities like recording balances. ?

I am well aware of that but not all tenors are the same. A heldentenor like Thomas can easily cope with the orchestral climaxes of the first movement, a lyric tenor would be incapable of meeting the demands of the piece. Wunderlich comes somewhere between the two. In the performance with Schmidt-Isserstedt he copes well with the demands but then, as I said, the soloists seem to be placed well forward. As it is a live performance, this is obviously the work of the recording engineers and we have no way of knowing (unless we were actually there) what it sounded like to the audience. The Thomas/Krips performance is also a live recording and sounds more naturally balanced.

[HighlandDougie]

Thanks to our resident technical wizard (well, one of them at least), Bryn, I've been listening often to Abbado's BPO concert in May with Jonas Kaufmann and Anne-Sofie von Otter, stored on my hard disk. The more I listen to it, the more I'm convinced that in the 45 years I've been listening to DLvdE (since acquiring the first classical LP of my own, Merriman/Haefliger/Concertgebouw/Jochum) this is as near an ideal performance as I have ever heard, particularly von Otter in 'Der Abschied'. I realise that this is an extravagant claim but she manages to more than hold her own against Ferrier, Merriman, Baker, Norman, Hodgson et al - and produce a performance of great emotional impact without resorting to any form of vocal artifice. When I first heard the performance (via the live relay), I wondered if Abbado's approach wasn't a bit cool but, on re-hearing, that impression quickly disappeared. I think that it's due to appear on DVD/Bluray - and for those lucky enough to be able to access the BPO archive, I assume that it's there. I will certainly be listening to it on Sunday.

[DublinJimbo]

Abbado's BPO concert in May with Jonas Kaufmann and Anne-Sofie von Otter

I think that it's due to appear on DVD/Bluray - and for those lucky enough to be able to access the BPO archive, I assume that it's there. I will certainly be listening to it on Sunday.

Thank you so much for mentioning this. I did a quick check, and sure enough it's available to view at the BPO's Digital Concert Hall. I hope Jessye won't be too disappointed if I turn to this on Sunday instead.

[BBMmk2]

I am not a fan of Kathleen Ferrier at all! her voice just makes me cringe!

I quite like the baritone in this work.it has the sense of more variety to the score.