BaL 20.05.23 - Mahler: Rückert-Lieder

[Barbirollians]

Which for me ought to make it a straight fight between Baker/Barbirolli and Ludwig /Karajan . I suspected Coote/Albright would win like that duff Das lied she chose but it seems she has picked up the weakness of the conducting this time .

Hunt /Vignoles on the piano version.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Perhaps the (currently ) peerless Alice Coote could be matched with Rattle and the Berlin Phil ? Her talents deserve no less.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Janet Baker - so far ahead that the record is going on the moment the review is over. The way Barbirolli held that rit ..

[Keraulophone]

Janet Baker - so far ahead that the record is going on the moment the review is over. The way Barborolli held that rit ..

I was instantly in tears…

[Bryn]

I certainly intend to add the Gerhaher/Huber to those at hand.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I was instantly in tears…

I once had a conversation with the chorus director at Bayreuth. I asked him who , in his opinion, was the greatest singer he had ever heard. He said - Janet Baker.

[Keraulophone]

The version with piano where DF-D sings all five songs is with Barenboim accompanying. Whoever wins this time round will have to be pretty special to top Ludwig/Klemperer (3 songs only) or Baker/Barbirolli.

DD-D with DB have delighted me ever since it’s release, particularly in Ich bin… For years I’ve been attempting to get close to Barenboim’s voicing, particularly at its close. A great pity that DF-D’s 4-song orchestral recording isn’t being illustrated, despite us being given the reason why not. Grr.
.

[Master Jacques]

Which for me ought to make it a straight fight between Baker/Barbirolli and Ludwig /Karajan . I suspected Coote/Albright would win like that duff Das lied she chose but it seems she has picked up the weakness of the conducting this time.

I picked up on a weakness in Coote's singing, sadly, as she's a favourite of mine (I'd not heard her in this set before). The voice is not well supported, with some thin, mid-range tone and a degree of croon: altogether artistry here serves to obscure art. Wonderful to hear in the concert hall, I guess, but given the depth of vocal flaws, not one for repeating listening. The band aren't the main culprits here: it sounded as if the reviewer wanted to let her singer down lightly.

[Barbirollians]

Janet Baker - so far ahead that the record is going on the moment the review is over. The way Barbirolli held that rit ..

Agree entirely - cannot understand her liking for the wobbly plain singing of Urmana. Ludwig is great but I think better in the three she recorded with Klemperer .Baker is surely the winner. Sorry nothing from Hunt Lieberson’s live Wigmore Hall recording.

[Keraulophone]

I once had a conversation with the chorus director at Bayreuth. I asked him who , in his opinion, was the greatest singer he had ever heard. He said - Janet Baker.

Was that Norbert Balatsch? He must have heard them all, and at different stages of their careers.

JB is the greatest singer I’ve sung with (in chorus at RFH), even allowing for Lucia Popp!
.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Was that Norbert Balatsch? He must have heard them all, and at different stages of their careers.

JB is the greatest singer I’ve sung with (in chorus at RFH), even allowing for Lucia Popp!
.

As a matter of fact it was indeed Norbert.

[Ein Heldenleben]

I picked up on a weakness in Coote's singing, sadly, as she's a favourite of mine (I'd not heard her in this set before). The voice is not well supported, with some thin, mid-range tone and a degree of croon: altogether artistry here serves to obscure art. Wonderful to hear in the concert hall, I guess, but given the depth of vocal flaws, not one for repeating listening. The band aren't the main culprits here: it sounded as if the reviewer wanted to let her singer down lightly.

All true but she is a communicator . I love the rawness and operatic emotion of it all.

[Keraulophone]

All that Flora said about the winning GH+Huber recording applies equally, or IMO even more so, to DF-D+Barenboim of which we heard nothing.

[Barbirollians]

How preposterous to not choose an orchestral version . Fine as Gerhaher and in particular Huber are .

[Keraulophone]

How preposterous to not choose an orchestral version . Fine as Gerhaher and in particular Huber are .

Piano and orchestral versions ought both to have been recommended.

(Would have happened in the past.)