Customer Reviews

Mahler: Kindertotenlieder, Ruckert-Lieder / Meier, Maazel

5 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

My favorite female Wagnerian, Waltraud Meier's considerable strengths have never included pure vocal beauty. But she lends a different kind of beauty to these songs, altogether preferable to some nightingale cheerfully singing through the Songs on the Death of Children, or, worse, a soprano sobbing and choking her way through some of Mahler's finest songs. Meier's emotionalism runs much deeper. Lorin Maazel's conducting is superb; he and Meier have worked together often on recordings, and they seem to have built an artistic rapport with one another.

Meier and Maazel turn in unfussy, straightforward performances of these works, and those adjectives pretty well some up the sonic quality, too. The liner notes contain the lyrics in both German and English. This is an excellent modern recording of these song cycles that would make a fine first choice for the collector new to this delightful repertoire.

In a few words: Maazel shows a personal idea of each work in this album, and that is commendable. The orchestra sounds pure and committed to the task. As for Mrs. Meier... well, her voice sounds bad; she tries to give emotion, though. If you are going to make a first approach to these works, move swiftly to another version. If this is going to be one among many others, go for it.

Waltraud's reputation as a dramatic actress in the opera house extends to her ability to dramatize Mahler's songs, but even so, there are big problems here, beginning with the conductor. Maazel made a premium-priced cycle of Mahler symphonies on Sony with the matchless Vienna Phil, but even they couldn't salvage wayward performances that were savaged by the critics (except for the Fourth, which rather oddly became a critics' darling). Maazel is glib, shallow, and stiff in Mahler, three defects that are fatal. They certainly prove to be here, and Meier's rather curdled voice is no friend to Mahler's rich emotionality either. Despite many touches of artistry, I simply don't find her right in Mahler, either in these song cycles or in Das Lied von der Erde. Meier's many fans will feel free to disagree.