COMPOSERS: Mahler
LABELS: Decca Classic Sound
WORKS: Das Lied von der Erde
PERFORMER: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone), James King (tenor)Vienna PO/Leonard Bernstein
CATALOGUE NO: 452 301-2 ADD(1967)
Bernstein was temperamentally as well-suited to Das Lied as to anything in Mahler’s output, though in 1966 he had not yet developed the expressive intensity that makes his later Mahler recordings so compelling (and occasionally frustrating). Fischer-Dieskau was also arguably in his prime, and he brings great beauty to his solos, without really tugging the heartstrings in ‘Der Abschied’. James King is a typical interpreter of the tenor numbers: big voice, little else. The recording has worn well, though I did note some distortion at the formidable climaxes. Stephen Maddock
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Bernstein was temperamentally as well-suited to Das Lied as to anything in Mahler’s output, though in 1966 he had not yet developed the expressive intensity that makes his later Mahler recordings so compelling (and occasionally frustrating). Fischer-Dieskau was also arguably in his prime, and he brings great beauty to his solos, without really tugging the heartstrings in ‘Der Abschied’. James King is a typical interpreter of the tenor numbers: big voice, little else. The recording has worn well, though I did note some distortion at the formidable climaxes. Stephen Maddock
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:38 pm