Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn & Adagio from Symphony No.10

As with my review for The Cleveland Orchestra's Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder / Orchestral Music released by Deutsche Grammophon over the summer, I must first admit that I am an admirer, supporter, and frequent audience member of The Cleveland Orchestra.

I was in attendance at one of the concerts recorded for this disc. I am a confirmed lover of Mahler's works, and as of this concert, two of his symphonies, including the 10th, and a few of the song cycles were all that remained in the way of hearing his complete canon. Mr. Boulez, Ms. Kozená, Mr. Gerhaher, and The Cleveland Orchestra did not disappoint on this journey through the unfinished 10th Symphony or the songs from "Des Knaben Wunderhorn."

The startling emotions of the Adagio from the 10th - the violent chords clashing out of quiet, simple, sylvan passages require both agile sensitivity for the quiet moments and the fearlessness to release all hell, as it were, when necessary. Under Mr. Boulez's baton, The Cleveland Orchestra has never failed (in my estimation) to plumb the proverbial depths and scale the heroic heights of Mahler's music. This recording of the Adagio provides an excellent occasion to examine the very end of the composer's life and the conflicts that are elemental to such times.

The Wunderhorn songs, another first for me in live concert, were both lovely and startling, depending on the individual song. At our concert, Mr. Gerhaher seemed to be struggling with a little bit of a cold. That doesn't seem to be too much of a hindrance on this disc. His diction is spot-on, his inflections give full color to the songs, and the Orchestra never fails to provide the perfect accompaniment. His "Revelge" and "Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt" are my highlights.

Not to be outdone, I have to say that Ms. Kozená possesses one of the loveliest, most unique soprano voices today. Her light, lilting tone is especially effective in "Lob des hohen Verstandes." And in rendering "Verlor'ne Müh," Ms. Kozená makes the dialogue for one seem almost effortless.

Again, I must applaud the engineers at Deutsche Grammophon for this recording's clarity and balance. All evidence of their abominable mistakes in preserving the Beethoven 9th of a few years ago is gone. The vocal soloists and the musicians sound vital and dynamic on this wonderful disc.

You won't be sorry in adding this capstone to your Boulez/Mahler collection or even as a first disc on your journey into Mahler's works. Boulez, The Cleveland Orchestra, Gerhaher, and Kozená combine to make an incredible album that should long stand the test of time.

As a capstone to Boulez's surprisingly solid Mahler cycle, this final disc is very well conceived and executed. Here we have some of Mahler's earlier creations - given in their sometimes later orchestrated versions - coupled to his last fully complete utterance: the Adagio from Symphony No. 10. Normally, I'm a fan of conductors giving us the "complete" 10th in one of its numerous "performing versions" (I like the Carpenter version, but am a big fan of the early Ormandy recording of Cooke I as well). But when the Adagio alone is given such a cogent and convincing reading, I'm all ears.

When it came to the 10th, Bernstein spoke of Mahler simply saying "farewell" once again. Thus, he saw it as being almost redundant to "Das Lied von der Erde" and the 9th symphony. Boulez, on the other hand, rightly directs our attention to the future of music, without making the 10th sound too cold or alienated. Frankly, I've been listening to his M10 Adagio over and over - it's that good! Obviously, much of the credit has to go to the excellent playing of the Cleveland Orchestra, captured "live" in the generally fine acoustics of Severance Hall. The same excellence of playing and "live" sonics applies to the "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" as well.

This is a magnificent work - one that is so central to our full understanding of Mahler's first five symphonies. Heck, Klaus Tennstedt even referred to the 8th as being a throw-back to Wunderhorn stylings (this is especially true of Part II). Mahler's orchestrations to these songs are prime examples of orchestral tone painting at its very best. Again, the Clevelanders do themselves proud, displaying exquisite balances across the various sections of the orchestra. For the most part, Magdalena Kozena and Christian Gerhaher do a fine job.

Kozena isn't the most gorgeous voice among the many sopranos to have cropped up in recent recent years. But her expressive powers more than compensate for any lack of sheer beauty. Check out her almost tangible sense of anguish in "das irdische Leben", then compare it to her coquettish utterances in the lighter and sometimes "flirty" songs. In short, her expressive range is quite impressive. Gerhaher, on the other hand, can't quite bark and command in the various soldiering songs, the way Thomas Hampson does so well on the otherwise fully mediocre Tilson-Thomas disc. The problem is that MTT doesn't even come halfway in meeting Hampson. Make the comparisons: Boulez and his Clevelanders do a far better job of digging in and marching relentlessly in "Revelge". Admittedly, Boulez begins "Der Tambourgesell" a bit too swiftly to be fully effective with Mahler's persistent dotted-eighth/sixteenth note rhythms (thus, coming dangerously close to being triplet figures), but gains all kinds of expressive brownie points by making a huge contrast at the atmospheric second section: "gute nacht ihr Marlmestein". Here, we have one of Mahler's classic funereal processions, complete with plaintive oboe and acid sounding tam-tam (orchestral gong of no specific pitch). This passage simply couldn't haven been executed better, and it's here that we transition into the thoroughly modern sounding, 12-note melody that introduces the 10th symphony Adagio.

Overall, I like the recent Markus Stenz "DKW" on the Oehms Classics label even better. However, it's also more expensive, and Boulez provides us with his fine M10 Adagio simply by omitting "Urlicht" (the vocal movement to symphony No. 2) and "das himmlische Leben" (the vocal finale to symphony no. 4). In my book, that's a welcome trade-off. So, if you're collecting Boulez's Mahler cycle, be sure not to skip over this release. I'm actually hopeful that Boulez and DG will someday choose to revisit "Das Klagende Lied" as well. I must say, I've been enjoying this disc very much.

For the set of Wunderhorn songs alone, this disc would be worth the value.
I note also that this performance in February 2010 is also on Youtube.
Magdalena Kozena and Christian Gerhaher give here probably the best contemproary reading of this set of songs.
Kozena's timbre has grown a bit darker than her early years, and is not at all as opulent as it used to be, but she uses this 'shortcoming' to very good effect in these songs! Her reading is vivid and enlivened, probably more so than Anne Sofie von Otter in the DG version with Quasthoff under Abbado.
In even better vocal shape is Christian Gerhaher, a baritone who in these couple of years reached the virtue zenith of his singing prime. The way Gerhaher shapes the phrases and vary the nuances is truly jaw dropping. He has a very naturalistic timbre; a virtual plus for singing this set of Mahler songs. Never over-dramatising, his interpretation is heartfelt and moving in the most musically effective manner.
There is also a movement from Symphony No. 10 - the Adagio.
If people aren't 'moved' by Boulez's conducting, I would urge them to listen with a little more care.
It is at all times subtly moving without ever becoming overbearing even in the slightest way.