Mahler - Totenfeier, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
£8.08
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Label: Signum
Cat No: SIGCD259
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Release Date: 24th September 2012
Contents
Artists
Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Conductor
Vladimir JurowskiWorks
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer)Totenfeier
Artists
Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Conductor
Vladimir JurowskiAbout
Conducted by Principal Artist Vladimir Jurowski, this CD includes Mahler’s 'Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen' (Songs of a Wayfarer), written in the wake of an unhappy affair with a soprano, and the extraordinarily exciting and powerful 'Totenfeier', Mahler’s first foray into orchestral music, and later reworked into the opening movement of his second symphony.
Sound/Video
Paused
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1Totenfeier
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2Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht
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3Ging heut' morgen ubers Feld
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4Ich hab' ein gluhend Messer
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5Die zwei blauen Augen
Europadisc Review
In fact, Jurowski’s gripping performance is probably the most compelling and persuasive now available. It has the sweep and sense of drive that marked his earlier complete performance of the Symphony (LPO), but with all the added insights offered by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment using their period instruments.
With sinewy yet lyrical strings, plangent but biting woodwind, penetrating brass, and well-defined timpani, this is a performance that exchanges the customary blend of the modern orchestra for a soundscape of sharply-etched contrasts. Textural details often leap out where too often they’re subsumed and glossed over, with the result that the radical modernism of the music is enhanced, while retaining its late-Romantic elements (including some beautifully judged portamenti). The substantial differences in the movement’s central sections are brought into bold relief, but so too are the myriad textural details in the outer sections, where Mahler’s subsequent changes were less far-reaching but just as telling.
The coupling is a marvellously probing account of the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer), sung here by mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly. She performed all of Mahler’s vocal music during the course of 2011, and her true tone and faultless intonation are complemented by a brilliantly sensitive identification with Mahler’s texts, telling a tale of unrequited love in a Schubertian vein. The singing is emotionally engaging, direct and honest, but it is often the accompaniments, by turns ardent, tender and ironic, that really mark these early songs as distinctively Mahlerian. Rarely can the instrumental contribution have been highlighted to such powerful effect, particularly in the more fragile, lightly-scored sections, where the OAE’s soloists excel themselves.
The close but not over-dry recorded sound constantly brings out the magic detail of Mahler’s orchestrations, and these recordings immediately make their mark as being among the most desirable for either work. It’s a shame that room couldn’t also be found for Wagner’s Parsifal prelude from the same concert, but the advantage is that, by keeping this CD a Mahler-only one, Signum are able to offer it at a very competitive lower mid-price (currently even cheaper in our Signum special offer, at just £5.57). The result is a must for Mahlerians everywhere!
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