Mahler: Symphony No. 4 [Import]

Juliane Banse (Artist), Gustav Mahler (Composer), Pierre Boulez (Conductor), Cleveland Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Cleveland Orchestra
• Conductor: Pierre Boulez
• Composer: Gustav Mahler
• Audio CD (January 3, 2000)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Dg Imports
• ASIN: B00004R9F4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,148 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New Mahler 4 Delivers, March 16, 2000

By 

Thomas B Dawkins - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 4 (Audio CD)

I am a true fan of Boulez's new Mahler recordings, especially his incomparable first symphony with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This is no exception. The last movement lacks some of the clarity of the rest, and the soprano sings clearly, but without the "innocence" asked for by Mahler. (Bernstein's recording goes as far as to use a boy soprano). The first movement orchestral work is superb, including all of the treacherous horn solos, tempo changes and textures. The second movement, with it's "devil's fiddle" solo (first violin tuned up a whole step) is exquisitely eerie. On the opposite side, the third movement is serene as possible and a perfect set-up to the poem of the fourth: Das Himmlisches Leben (the Heavenly Life), which is the last of Mahler's settings from Das Knaben Wunderhorn. All in all, this recording is not quite what Boulez's Mahler 1 is, but it still displays a beautiful, new version of a great symphony.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mahler takes us to Heaven..., July 25, 2005

By 

ewomack "ewomack" (MN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 4 (Audio CD)

Many interpret the sudden blaring and overwhelmingly passionate E major burst in the third movement of this symphony as a representation of entering heaven. This musical explosion is rather salient and very hard to miss in that it follows some fifteen minutes of the most amazing slow-paced music in the Mahler catalog. The inimitable Pierre Boulez and his friends at the Cleveland Orchestra pull this off astonishingly well. The true complexity of this adagio unrolls before our unsuspecting aural canals like so much acoustic sweetmeat. Here lies the symphony's climax. As clear as day. As clear as the gates of Heaven opening up. For this reason, the fourth sometimes gets dubbed Mahler's "Heavenly" symphony. Well, at the risk of sounding absolutely trite, it is heavenly, but for more reasons than thematic ones. Mahler, and Boulez as interpreter, do not disappoint for the entirely of the disc.

Boulez takes the first movement somewhat faster than the norm (but not as fast as Benjamin Britten apparently took it). This tempo brings out some fun in the music. One can even dance to the melodic rhythms. This movement contains incredibly catchy but sophisticated themes. The now famous "sleigh-bell" opening represents just one of these. And pay attention to that one, because it comes up again later (as it turns out, in Heaven).

Next comes the movement, a scherzo, unofficially entitled by Mahler as "Death Strikes Up" ("Freund Hein spielt auf"). The unforgettable standout melody on an alternately tuned violin supposedly represents "Death's Fiddle" strumming in the ears of a mortal. Listeners at the 1901 premiere had probably never heard anything like this (so of course many audiences at the time hated this piece which differed greatly from Mahler's "grander" second and third symphonies).

When the fourth movement arrives the end actually takes us back to the beginning. This movement began as a not so simple piano and vocal song back in 1892. It almost ended up in the third symphony, but was instead saved for the fourth. And since the song came before the symphony, Mahler had to work backwards to make the symphony fit the song. The amazing results blare from every digital bit of this CD.

The song itself contains a metanarrative familiar to poorer times. Descriptions of abundant food and pleasures abound in the poem. Those in Heaven dance, eat plenty of lamb, string beans, rabbit, fish, and asparagus. No worries here! There's always plenty of food and free wine! "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" (recorded throughout the early-mid twentieth century) paints a similar utopian cornocopia of gastronomy and cascading waterfalls of liqueur. The singer is supposed to represent innocence without parody. A description of life in heaven emerges from the mouth of one of the lucky ones. Juliane Banse sings this song beautifully. Small, almost imperceptible intrusions from horns represent the calls of the plentiful sheep and ox. And then the "sleigh-bell" theme from the first movement intrudes on this lovely scene. This indubitably connects the four parts of the work as a whole. And since the theme emerged before the "death scene" in the adagio, is Mahler suggesting that Heaven is a possiblity before and after death? Or do the bells merely summon the journey from earth to Heaven? The music contains enough thematic content to fill up your ears and brains through countless listens. In fact, much of the symphony only begins to reveal itself after numerous hearings.

Mahler's fourth probably represents the best introduction to Mahler for newcomers. Its flowing melodies, intense slow movement, and salient structure make for inviting listening. It's one of Mahler's "simpler" symphonies (though it's by no means simple). And this recording arguably stands as one of the best modern recordings available (originally released in 2000). Put it on and see why Mahler and Boulez get along so well.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mahler, Symphony #4; Boulez + Cleveland, March 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 4 (Audio CD)

Another great release in Pierre Boulez's Mahler cycle! Overall, the recording is great..no one tops DG. The performance is sure-handed and detailed, Boulez's trademarks. I found the first movement a little fast (though Mahler's marking is "Nicht eilen," "not slow"), and the playing in this movement is a touch ragged. The 2nd and 3rd movements, however, are precisely handled. The 4th is fine, though I found the soprano a bit screechy in her upper end. Nonetheless, a memorable recording. Great composer, great conductor, great orchestra, great recording!! It made me very happy!!