Customer Reviews

Mahler: Symphony No. 4 - Benjamin Zander / Philharmonia Orchestra / Camilla Tilling, soprano

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This is about Benjamin Zander's new recording of Mahler's Fourth Symphony on Telarc but there are some preliminaries to put it in context. Critics tend to dismiss as uncommitted or lacking in excitement the interpretation of the Mahler Fourth by means of which I first grew familiar with the piece - Bernard Haitink's, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, on a Philips LP from the late 1960s. (I bought the record in the summer of 1972 and vividly remember listening to it, via headphones, when I had returned home from work, as a store-clerk, around 1.30 in the morning; I had picked it up at a long-extinct record-store, in Westwood Village, on my way from college classes to work.) Possibly, in comparison with some others, Haitink's performance is not so mannered or daring as it might be, but it exhibits a delicacy of touch that still endears it to me. Ely Ameling provides the soprano voice in the Finale and her un-operatic delivery well suits the music. Next to the Seventh, the Fourth is the most otherworldly of the canonical nine, nocturnal, quirky, and haunted. It can withstand a sunny reading, like that given it influentially by Bruno Walter, but it benefits greatly by an infusion of the uncanny. Benjamin Zander understands this; his is one of the hand-full of recorded interpretations that satisfies me as much as the old Haitink interpretation on Philips. No doubt all conductors meticulously study the scores that they conduct. Zander, however, makes his cogitations evident in fascinating lectures that accompany his recorded performances; Telarc has made these spoken analyses of Mahler's scores available to listeners on bonus discs that come with each of the three symphonies (9, 5, and 4) so far issued in the series. As Zander reminds us, Mahler wrote Symphony No. 4 backwards, beginning with the fourth-movement setting of the "Wunderhorn" song "Das Himmlische Leben," originally intended as the seventh movement of the colossal Third Symphony. In his lecture, Zander examines the movements in reverse order, but I'll take them, as we hear them in performance, the right way round. There has been a good deal of discussion of the Fourth Symphony in recent years. The composer Berthold Goldschmidt told Simon Rattle that modern interpreters had got the opening tempi wrong, and that the error had itself become the tradition: the opening tempo should be slower than the subsequent tempo. (You can listen to the result of the reshuffling in Rattle's EMI recording.) Zander seems to have picked up on Goldschmidt's claim. Like the old Haitink interpretation, Zander's is one of gentleness, piqued here and there by the obtrusions of weirdness that are undoubtedly intrinsic to Mahler's score. The "Kleine Appell" - the trumpet-call, buried in a tutti, which foreshadows the Fifth Symphony - is understated; Zander reins in its foreshadowing portentousness. In the Second Movement, the "Freund Hein Scherzo," the first violin does an exceptionally fine job. It's Zander's notion that the solo part should sound as much like a village fiddle and as little like a fancy concert instrument as possible. Haitink's soloist stood out in the same way: an uncanny mixture of sweetness and creepiness. I like it. The long Third Movement sounds sumptuous indeed, and poignant, under Zander's leadership; it's one of the best version of this particular movement that I now. In Swedish soprano Camilla Tilling, Zander has found a superb singer for the Fourth Movement Finale. Tilling sings the part without the stage-voice that other sopranos (Schwarzkopf, for example, in her recorded performances with Walter and Klemperer) bring to it; she uses, instead, a "Liederstimmung" with an endearingly girlish quality. Zander's lecture by itself would be worth the tariff on this set: it really elucidates the inner-workings of this remarkable symphony. Strongly recommended.

I discovered the Mahler Fourth back in the late sixties from the first Leonard Bernstein recording featuring an unmannered and appropriately simple solo performance by soprano Reri Grist who, in my opinion had just the right childlike sound. Bernstein's second Mahler series boasts the best recordings of the Third and the Seventh I have ever heard and a very fine reading of the Sixth. Lenny's Fourth in the second set, however, is seriously marred by the use of a boy soprano who sounds jarringly wrong and does not do justice to the music. The Boulez recording has some merit, a fine scherzo for example with a disturbingly agressive violin solo creating a chilly effect. However, the choice of tempo for the first movement opening leaves one wondering if Boulez knows what "deliberately, unhurried" means and the soprano in the final movement sings well, but has too mature a sound. The Zander recording, to my great delight, is as perfect an interpretation as I ever hope to hear. The performance is so transparent and so perfectly judged that every amazing detail of the score shines through. The recorded sound is ravishing, and the wonderful soprano in the finale displays marvelous technique and supplies just the right innocense of tone. Zander's hour long discussion of the work is as revealing as the performance itself. Finally, a recording that does justice to one of Mahler's most subtly perfect creations.

This is without a doubt the most fascinating and moving performance of the Mahler 4th that I have ever heard. The sound is as good as I have heard using 16-bit encoding. The commentary disk is excellent. Conductor Benjamin Zander seems to have a deep appreciation for this music.
Special mention must go to soprano Camilla Tilling who gives the absolute best reading of the 4th movement I have ever heard both interpretively and for the sheer beauty of her voice. Another special mention should go to the string section of the Philharmonia. The ensemble playing is at times as good as it gets. I can't see how the first four to five minutes of the 3rd movement could be performed any better.

It's much more difficult to write a laudatory review than a scathing one. In fact, if one is a performer, he/she may learn more from a bad example than a good one. Perhaps that's why some music schools have the obligatory weekly recital class, where one gets raked over the coals by his peers.

This, however, is the Mahler for people who hate Mahler. I can't think of one negative thing to say about it, and I have a whole shelf of this symphony. This one satisfied me. I did find the accompanying disk overlong and unnecessary. The symphony speaks for itself.

It took some persuasion to like and understand Mahler's fourth (although I had listened to some six or seven different performances) and it was Yoel Levi's recording on Telarc that finally won me over, although I was less than impressed with Mrs Von Stade's singing.
ANd then came along a Mr. Zander, a completely unknow entity to me, but if he were good enough to conduct the Philharmonia I though it worth a try. I found myself convinced not only of this particular Mahler symphony once more, but also of the interpretative capacities of said Mr Zander (in the meantime I have listened to many of his other discs and was not disappointed). I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's the best (is there ever a 'best' I wonder?) but it is certainly a very good one, helped in no small way by Camilla Tilling's singing. Her innocent, almost naïve singing must be heard to be believed. The disc with Zander's commentary on the work is an added bonus which I would not gladly have missed (don't be put off by ClassicsToday's sour comment on Zander's purported 'longwindedness').
To the novice a very worthwhile introduction to Mahler's soundworld, to the die hard fans an item that, like Boulez's Mahler discs, may be a stone of contention.

Isn't anyone bothered by the ugly little glitch (right stereo channel) at 11:17 during the Third Movement? (I ordered the CD again, to be sure, but it was present on both, so probably on many more) So please, before buying, check out this CD for yourself! Success, J.B.

In reading reviews of other Mahler recordings of this conductor, Maestro Zander appears to be a polarizing figure. As usual with his (at time of writing) 6 Mahler recordings with the Philharmonia, this one features a bonus commentary CD (almost 79 minutes). It has many very interesting musical examples, not only comparing this Mahler symphony to his 5th and the Das Lied von der Erde, but also excerpts from Stravinsky and Brahms. As usual, the commentary is rigorous, well articulated, and entertaining. As for the commentary starting with the 4th movement, which was composed first, that does not bother me at all.

There has been mixed reviews about the performance of the soloist Camilla Tilling - I enjoyed it. Perhaps her soprano is not as beautiful as on some other performances, but I enjoyed her vocal style and approach to the work. The orchestra performed well, with finely detailed sound. For me the most distinct feature of the CD was the scherzo, with the concertmaster Christopher Warren-Green pushing himself and his instrument to the very limit. In an earlier rendition of one passage of this movement, as recounted on the commentary, he broke a string. The sound is absolutely arresting, even if one has heard this music played many times. I cannot recall a more diabolical performance of this movement elsewhere. The rest of the orchestra, complete with very loud pizzicato harp, seems fully committed here as well. I'm not a big fan of this symphony - although Maestro Zander makes a wonderful case for it in his commentary - but this is as enjoyable a performance overall as I have ever heard. The great slow movement was warm, rich and expressive. Overall, I preferred this performance to that of the 3rd Symphony.

The written album notes are again excellent. For admirers of Maestro Zander's work, this is well worth acquiring.

Who would have ever thought that Telarc would someday become the recording label boasting of the most distinguished catalog of Mahler recordings available? First Lopez-Cóbos, now Zander (and if Telarc ever releases an uncut version of Levi's 6th, we can add his name to the list) have made memorable recordings for Telarc, and the Zander recordings have included excellent bonus CDs containing informative and entertaining lectures by Maestro Zander.

Hot on the heels of the fantastic Mahler 5th by these same forces, which I reviewed in Issue 86 of The $ensible Sound, comes this new Mahler 4th. As we have come to expect from Maestro Zander, everything sounds just right. Like Boulez, Zander is a master at bringing out every little strand of the score. What is especially notable about this performance is the rustic quality that the players evoke. Woodwinds, for example, do not play with silky smoothness, but bring a slightly earthy quality to their tone that seems to fit right in with the character of the music, especially in the dance-like sections of the second movement.

The soprano in the final movement, Camilla Tilling, makes her recorded debut on this CD, and her performance is wonderful. I was knocked out by her performance when I first heard it; later, as I listened to the lecture disk and heard Zander explain how he came to find her, and how she approached her performance, I had to chuckle.

Overall, this is truly a fine performance. Like Zander's 5th, this 4th is the best I have ever heard. Telarc is well on its way to leaving a musical as well as sonic legacy. I look forward eagerly to the next release from Maestro Zander, an amazing man indeed.

I respectfully disagree with those critics who assert that the final movement, meant to depict a child's dream of The Heavenly Life, requires a childish voice. For me, the emphasis should be on Heaven, not on the child, and I find that Tilling doesn't uplift the spirit and bring tears of joy to the eyes of the soul the way my own favorite does. This recording isn't as far off the mark as Bernstein's use of a boy soprano, but it's the same general kind of mistake. If, like me, you prefer a recording which lets you close your eyes and be transported into Heaven, don't pick this one -- pick the Vienna Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel and the incomparably heavenly voice of Kathleen Battle -- her rendition of the soaring "Saint Ursula" line, in particular, sets a standard of "Heavenly" to which Tilling can't even aspire.

Credentials of this critic: B.A. in applied music, bassoon performance and composition, Western State College of Colorado, 1968; former principal bassoonist in a number of minor orchestras, including the Rapid City (SD) Symphony, the Black Hills Chamber Orchestra, The Grand Junction (CO) Mesa/Community Orchestra, the South Dakota All-State High School Orchestra, and others. Nine years in military bands including the USAF Academy Band. Mahler fan for 40 years.