Customer Reviews

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4; Four Early Songs

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This performance truly surprised me. I had never heard of Gatti before buying this disc. I decided to pick it up based mainly on the excellent reviews I'd read of Ruth Ziesak's singing in the fourth movement.

Gatti's reading of the entire symphony is nothing short of inspired. This is great Mahler conducting. Gatti brings out the gentle, sublime beauty of the first movement. From the very start you can hear the love he feels for this music. The third movement -- for me the heart and soul of this symphony -- is outstanding, perhaps the best I have heard. Ziesak's singing in the last movement -- wow! She is the best I've heard since Kathleen Battle on the old Maazel recording. Her beautiful voice is perhaps the only possible sound that could follow Gatti's sublime third movement.

My only quibbles with Gatti's Mahler Fourth are the "attacca" between the third and fourth movements -- there ought to be more of a pause -- and the sleighbell sections of the fourth movement being a little too fast and furious. But with an overall performance as outstanding as this, who's gonna do more than make a side remark? This is a conductor to watch out for! It's still early in 2000, but this CD is likely to be my Mahler Purchase of the Year.... until I hear Gatti's Fifth, of course, so who knows.