30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Perfect Recording, August 5, 2000
This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 4 / Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Audio CD)
How many times have you listened to a recording and left saying "that was perfect". For me, this might be the only record where I was given the feeling that no one will ever be able to match this recording of this piece of music. My introduction to Mahler's 4th was a newer Telarc CD with Yoel Levi and the Atlanta Symphony. The soloist in this Telarc release interestingly is Frederica von Strade who is also the Mezzo-Soprano soloist on the Songs of a Wayfarer recording used as a filler on this CD. The Telarc recording has excellent sound, using the latest technology and benefits from a very good production. The sound is better then any you will find on say.. Deutche Grammophone. It was very surprising to me that this 1965 recording actually has better sound. There is a myth that somehow if a recording says DDD on it, it will sound better then a recording that says ADD on it. The reality is that some digital recordings sound better then analogue and some analogue recordings sound better then newer digital recordings. It all seems to be in the production, and here the production is perfect.
It is very hard for me to describe different elements of Szell's interpretation here, because it seems like there is none. What the listener ends up hearing IS Mahler's 4th Symphony. The legendary Cleveland Orchestra seems to blend together perfectly in a mix of precision and beauty. Judith Raskin again is the perfect voice for the finale conveying a very simple, yet overwhelming beauty bringing to a close the greatest recording of this piece, and maybe the closest to absolute perfection I've ever heard on disc. This is a no brainer.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Duh! Hello? WAKE UP!, February 3, 2000
This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 4 / Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Audio CD)
Even if you are only slighly intersted in Mahler or you areready to enter his universe from more earthly liftoffs such asSymphony No. 4 here or No. 1 ("Titan") or you call yourself the Total Mahlerian and can name every one of Alma's lovers, then you really owe yourself the pleasure of listening to one of the finest No. 4's ever recorded, and probably the BEST EVER AND OF ALL-TIME had it been recorded digitally. Szell and the Clevelanders run with this from the opening bar, and if you want to go along for the ride, they'll be very happy to take you there. No Bruno Walter schmaltz, no Otto Klemperer detachment, no Leonard Bernstein acrobatics (and I love all three of those guys BTW), just pure Mahler. Get the Clevelanders' recording of Symphony No. 6 "Tragic", too. It has some cuts, nothing too major. The tapes, also nice with a minimum of tape hiss. These will be mentioned in articles about recorded Mahler symphonies long after everyone living at the moment you are reading this is gone. Why should you be deprived of this any longer? END
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must-have for all time., November 24, 2000
This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 4 / Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Audio CD)
Here are the flaws:
1. Szell slows down too much at "Fliessend, aber ohne Hast" in I (the beginning of the brief A major passage, where the four flutes enter in unison, Rehearsal 10 in Dover).
2. The solo violinist is slightly out of tune several bars before Rehearsal 4 in III.
That's it. And these two "flaws" can be easily ignored. Simply put, this recording is a knock-out. You can't ask for better playing, the soloist is great, and the sound is clear yet full of warmth. Moreover, Szell's conducting is tough to beat. Indeed, I have yet to hear better interpretation live or on disc. I is a delight - Szell and the Clevelanders were tops when it came to Mozart and Haydn, and they put their expertise in the two Viennese classicists to good use here. II and IV brim with life and personality. III is astonishingly rich, serene, and relaxed (except for the passages which demand tension, to which the performers bring just the right amount). Anybody who thinks Szell was a cold conductor and that his Cleveland Orchestra was incapable of matching the great European orchestras in warmth should hear this.
Next to this performance, other great recordings are wanting. My second favorite, Previn, has some awkward moments and Elly Ameling is not at her best. Haitink is a little stiff compared to Szell, Horenstein rather stilted, Klemperer misconeives III and has a miscast soprano, Kletzki is a little dry, and Reiner's III cannot compete with Szell's.
The Songs of a Wayfarer are decently done, but I do prefer a baritone (especially Hermann Prey).
At this price, why would you even think of not buying this recording? GET IT! Even if you already own ten other Mahler Fourths.
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