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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I received this album by accident, as a record club recording of the month that I had neglected to cancel. I could have returned it to the club, but decided to keep it because of the connections between "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" and Mahler's astonishing second symphony which I have loved for many years.
It turned out to be a lucky accident. These are flawless songs, perfectly exhibiting the craft of the second-greatest orchestrator in history. This new recording combines the talents of two of the greatest living lieder-singers with one of the few truly world-class teamings of orchestra and conductor. The sound quality is outstanding even by the best modern digital standards.
In historic terms also, this is a significant milestone. To my ears, certainly, no one is ever likely to match Fischer-Dieskau's iron-fist-in-a-velvet-glove combination of power and smoothness, or his dramatic flexibility. However, Quasthoff's own experience of triumph over adversity does seem to give his reading a special value in these lyrics that are so trifling on the surface and yet have such profound depths of insight into the human soul. Von Otter in the songs for female voice gives what is perhaps the new definitive performance. And ultimately in terms of overall listening enjoyment, no other version (not even the Fischer-Dieskau/Schwarzkopf set) can compare.
This is beautiful music, wonderfully performed, expertly engineered, and unreservedly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
One of my most played discs in my collection: the range of emotions and the immediacy of the interpretation will fit any mood, whether you dip into it for a specific track (as I often do) or listen to the whole disc without a break.
The quality of the recording is excellent: the balance between the orchestra and the voice is nigh on perfect and at no time do you feel one is over-powering the other, which can happen in other recordings: this is Mahler, afterall, and he is a powerful, and colourful, orchestrator.
Both singers bring a sense of discovery to their interpretations, from the coquettish, girl-like innocence, to the world weary with a message as relevant to-day as it was over 100 years ago. Who cannot be moved by "Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen" or enjoy the fun of "Verlorne Müh".
So don't wait to discover this music by accident, buy it with confidence.
The quality of the recording is excellent: the balance between the orchestra and the voice is nigh on perfect and at no time do you feel one is over-powering the other, which can happen in other recordings: this is Mahler, afterall, and he is a powerful, and colourful, orchestrator.
Both singers bring a sense of discovery to their interpretations, from the coquettish, girl-like innocence, to the world weary with a message as relevant to-day as it was over 100 years ago. Who cannot be moved by "Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen" or enjoy the fun of "Verlorne Müh".
So don't wait to discover this music by accident, buy it with confidence.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
These deceptively simple songs, with their eerie undercurrents and adventurous harmonies, are a perfect introduction to Mahler's sound world. Not being much of a fan of Fiescher-Dieskau, I consider Quasthoff to be the finest baritone exponent of these songs to date; we hear him in his absolute prime before the occasional loosening of his vibrato which has crept in of late. He can be both biting and tender, bringing tremendous subtlety and colour to his inflection of the text and encompassing all its moods. My favourite of his songs is the St Anthony's sermon, in which Quasthoff brings out all the sly, subversive irony of what at first appears to be a devotional folk song.
I will confess to having often found Anne Sofie von Otter to be a bland artist with no special qualities to her voice beyond an evident innate musicality and absolute reliability of intonation, but she surprised me here. She is especially good at bringing out the humour of the lighter songs. I still ideally require more richness of tone and heft of voice such as Janet Baker brings to "Urlicht", but von Otter instead chooses to inflect it with a naive gentleness and simplicity, which is another, effective way of doing it. You could not ask for more sensitive or responsive playing than the Berlin Philharmonic under Abbado's expert direction and the sound is exemplary.
I will confess to having often found Anne Sofie von Otter to be a bland artist with no special qualities to her voice beyond an evident innate musicality and absolute reliability of intonation, but she surprised me here. She is especially good at bringing out the humour of the lighter songs. I still ideally require more richness of tone and heft of voice such as Janet Baker brings to "Urlicht", but von Otter instead chooses to inflect it with a naive gentleness and simplicity, which is another, effective way of doing it. You could not ask for more sensitive or responsive playing than the Berlin Philharmonic under Abbado's expert direction and the sound is exemplary.
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