Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn

Damrau, Diana;
Paley, Ivàn

PH 14018

This is an extraordinary 2-cd set of ALL of Mahler's settings of texts from the early nineteenth-century German folk-poetry anthology DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN (THE YOUTH'S MAGIC HORN). Mahler explored the settings of these texts early in his composing career, first writing them for voice and piano, then orchestrating some of them, then orchestrating others. They subsequently became major material used in the construction of many of his symphonies. As to the individual songs themselves, he never defined what he wanted performed with orchestra as anything approaching an "official" version, nor did he attempt to organize the songs in any coherent fashion -he simply set them individually, and they were included periodically in his concerts as individual songs in groups of two or three (cf. Richard Strauss's orchestal songs). Consequently, conductors, when they have offered an evening of DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN, have arranged the order of the songs to convey their individual ideas of the "message" of the collective "work" -which these individual compositions were never intended to be! (It is interesting to note that Bernstein, in his two recordings of selected works in the cycle, separated by two decades, changed the order of the songs he used.). The present set includes ALL of the pieces Mahler set from the early nineteenth-century German folk collection, including those pieces that became included in his symphonies but are not normally associated with what contemporary audiences think of as part of DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN. The artists involved in the present recording are very fine younger-generation stars of Europe's opera world. I have thrilled to Diana Damrau's performances at Covent Garden. I have not personally seen Ivan Paley, but his work on these recordings indicates that he is a world-class singer. Neither of these artists currently is signed by a major recording label. They have been performing together in concert in original formats (e.g., a Robert and Clara Schumann evening including songs by both and letters written to friends and family about their developing relationship).The WUNDERHORN songs here are grouped by themes: CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH, SEPARATION AND FAREWELL, etc.. The organization works very well. One can hear each song individually, with breathing space in between the themes, without looking for a coherent progression which Mahler never intended.Both singers are superb, meeting the nuances of each song, singing with musicianship, clarity, and communicative simplicity. That neither of them has a contract with a major record label is a sad comment on the state of the international music industry. That they have been able to produce this superlative set through TELOS is a sign of great hope for the future of music. Stephan Matthias Lademann's accompaniments are among the finest ever -we're talking the equal of Gerald Moore and Geoffery Parsons!! With Lademann at the keyboard, you don't even think of the fact that you're used to hearing these pieces with orchestra. If you doubt me on this, you should check out his astounding two-singers-with-piano recording of Mahler's DAS LIED VON DER ERDE, also with Paley. This is a SUPERB recording, people. BUY IT if you love fine singing, if you love Mahler (it's the key to everything he subsequently wrote), and if you care about the future of classical music in the contemporary world!

CD x 2

Muzyka klasyczna

Profil Medien

25-02-2015

881488140187