Mahler: Songs With Orchestra - Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Ruckert-Lieder, Des Knaben Wunderhorn [Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import]

Susan Graham (mezzo-soprano) (Artist), Thomas Hampson (baritone) (Artist), Mahler (Composer), Michael Tilson Thomas (Conductor), San Francisco Symphony (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony
• Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas
• Composer: Mahler
• Audio CD (September 14, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD, Import
• Label: San Francisco Sym
• ASIN: B003VL2DY6
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,817 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mahler and Friends, September 14, 2010

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Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Songs With Orchestra - Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Ruckert-Lieder, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Audio CD)

Michael Tilson Thomas and his San Francisco Symphony are in the forefront of the complete Mahler recordings with this collection, and while not everyone will agree with Tilson Thomas' interpretations of various works mighty Mahler, he does engage the majesty and depth of feeling the works all convey.

On this recording SONGS WITH ORCHESTRA he has selected from live recordings from Davies Hall in San Francisco and the unity of the orchestral sound in the hall in which the orchestra calls its home is a plus. The recordings were from May 2007 and from September 2009. Tilson Thomas wisely selected two of the world's finest Mahler interpreters to perform these orchestral songs. Susan Graham is in fine voice for the 'Rückert-Lieder'. Her voice has rarely sounded so honey-filled, and her phrasing is both intelligent for the voice and for the poetry. This is a performance of the 'Rückert-Lieder' to stand with the best.

Thomas Hampson may be losing some of the sheen and the range of his earlier years - he opts for lower notes as in 'Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz' when options are available, but this in no way alters the beauty of his communication. Few baritones today have the exquisite diction Hampson owns. His 'Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen' is heartfelt without being morose. In the selections from 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn' (oddly not pairing both Hampson and Graham as many performances/recordings elect to share this cycle) Hampson is at his finest. In all of the recordings of 'Der Tambourg'sell' this listener has never felt the mystery of the final 'gute nacht' that Hampson almost breathes instead of sings: the result is hauntingly beautiful. Another very fine choice on the part of both conductor and singer is including the setting of 'Urlicht' so well known from the Second Symphony and usually sung by the mezzo-soprano. Hampson makes it his own and the orchestra is at its finest here.

Michael Tilson Thomas collaborates very well with these two singers, being sensitive to their voices and interpretations and providing eloquent orchestral accompaniment. It is the rare opportunity to have three fine Mahlerites on one recording - especially on as satisfying as this. Grady Harp, September 10

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MTT, SG, TH - Someone wake me, I'm dreaming., December 6, 2010

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Gerard Dionne "high eq" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Songs With Orchestra - Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Ruckert-Lieder, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Audio CD)

Where to begin!? The entire Mahler project that Michael Tilson-Thomas began a few years ago has been distinguished by a relentless attention to detail, and an extraordinary depth of understanding balanced by a modulated passion we might associate with MTT's progenitor, Leonard Bernstein. From the start, this effort has been what I always wanted, but was afraid to ask for, in Lenny's heroic, but comparatively undisciplined approach. The recording of the Hampson/Bernstein/VPO Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen of 1990, a little less than two years before Lenny's death, is worlds away from the present recording. In these intervening 20 years, Thomas Hampson has found his own approach to the young man's wandering in the Bavarian hills. This isn't a merely "correct" reading. We hear a very personal, intimate and ear-arresting take on Mahler's transcendent vision. But the best is yet to come.

Susan Graham brings an amalgam of maturity, superb musicianship and the sort of mezzo sound that begs to be heard. There's no fatigue factor - I could listen to this reading of Ich bin der Welt abhanden gokommen over and over again. In fact, just as an exercise in the outer limits of aficionado-dom, I compiled ten other readings of this song spanning 80 years (Sara Charles-Cahier, Kathleen Ferrier, Jenny Tourel, Kirsten Flagstadt, Christa Ludwig, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau [with an overwrought Lenny on piano], Janet Baker, Anne-Sophie Von Otter, Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson and Violeta Urmana [how's that for lofty company?]) on the same cd. Susan Graham's is at least the equal of the best of these. She sings with a knowing, intense lyricism that makes me reassess my notion of what a Mahlerian mezzo should sound like. Aw hell, folks; this is just drop-dead gorgeous.

As in the earlier Mahler readings in this series, the San Fransisco Symphony shows off an extraordinary virtuosity, and from people one doesn't usually single out, such as the principal harpist (pivotal with Mahler), and principal reeds. Michael Tilson-Thomas continues to show us that the gravity-center of western concert music is no longer the exclusive province of High Europa - not to mention the US east coast. I just wish there were more Mahler for him to record.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars conceptually flawed, this release is a real miss, October 8, 2010

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B. Guerrero "Mahler nutcase" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Songs With Orchestra - Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Ruckert-Lieder, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Audio CD)

I want to like Tilson-Thomas' Mahler; I really do. But this disc is conceptually flawed from the start. I say that because handing us only the male oriented, sometimes soldiering songs gives us a very flawed view of one of Mahler's very best creations: Des Knaben Wunderhorn. At the very least, it's his most underrated work. Why then, should MTT and the SFSO give us only half of it (more or less)? That said, Thomas Hampson turns in a truly heroic effort in barking out some of Mahler's darkest lyrics (the text is borrowed, of course). Unfortunately, MTT hardly even comes halfway in meeting him. If you think I'm exaggerating, just compare various versions of "Revelge" or "der Tambourgesell". Perhaps Tilson-Thomas' Mahler would have been more idiomatic from the start - especially in the earlier symphonies - if he had begun with "DKW" firsthand. But here, he hardly makes any effort to truly dig in and march relentlessly in "Revelge". It's almost as though Hampson is fighting the battle on his own, with the rest of the army standing safely in the background. Again, listen to how Bernstein, Markus Stenz (Oehms), or even Boulez turn up the intensity as the relentless marching continues. This is prime Mahler - one of the best songs in the entire cycle - so it shouldn't be underplayed.

Normally, I very much like Susan Graham. But I get the impression that Mahler's Ruckert Lieder may lie just a tad too high for her comfort. I say that because much of "Um Mitternacht" is sung way too loud. Thus, the climax at the end of "Um Mitternacht" completely misfires. This is one of Mahler's trickiest and strangest sounding climaxes to begin with, and success with "Um Mitternacht" is greatly dependent not only on tempo relationships, but on strongly contrasted dynamics. MTT's "Um Mitternacht" is a misfire on both accounts. Conversely, "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" - THE most gorgeous orchestral song ever composed - is given a relatively swift and restless sounding performance. While Graham's "Ruckert Lieder" aren't poor in any technical sense (except, perhaps in regards to dynamics), neither are they a match for the best efforts already turned in by Janet Baker, Christa Ludwig, or even Anne Sophie von Otter (with J.E. Gardiner on DG).

As for "Des Knaben Wunderhorn", get the full picture from Szell (EMI), Bernstein, MacKerras, Markus Stenz (Oehms), or even Boulez (sans "Urlicht" and "das himmlische Leben").

By the way - not that it matters - even Joshua Kosman, music critic for the S.F. Chronicle (and often times a shill for the MTT/SFSO Mahler cycle in general), thought that this release was a miss. While it's certainly not terrible, I couldn't agree more.