COMPOSERS: Mahler
LABELS: EMI
WORKS: Das klagende Lied
PERFORMER: Helena Döse (soprano), Alfreda Hodgson (mezzo-soprano), Robert Tear (tenor), Sean Rea (baritone) CBSO & Chorus/Simon Rattle
CATALOGUE NO: CDM 5 66406 2
One of Rattle’s earliest forays into Mahler, this performance bristles with imaginative detail and theatrical excitement.
A fine team of soloists and the CBSO Chorus serve Rattle well, though the highly charged and sometimes endearingly unsophisticated orchestral playing captures the spotlight. Despite echoes of Wagner and Bruckner, the score proclaims Mahler’s authorship
in almost every bar,
and is certainly worth getting to know in tandem with the early symphonies.
