Customer Reviews

Mahler: Symphony No. 4

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!!

The Cleveland Orchestra has had an enduring association with Boulez.Frequent recordings of Debussy and Stravinky has proven this.It was George Szell who had brought and endorsed Boulez in the Sixties. Today that ensemble and Boulez are two powerhouses. Yet the Mahler strives for the pure beauty,reflection and quality of the sound, very transparent and clean. It's amazing how we have endured and pondered Mahler with wrong notes and expressive excess prior. Well we initially learned Mahler from Bernstein and Solti, who both go for the juggler,bringing down the roof.In contrast Boulez has great discipline, with a fantastic ear for details,the balance of chords, the timbre, the blend or non-blend of strings and winds. I don't see the expressive as restrained here. Many forget that Mahler's creative affinity was for Mozartian classical clarity. Boulez certainly exploits and captures that aspect of Mahler, Also the Mahler First with Chicago Symphony has similar expressive concerns and dimensions

Mahler's shortest and most accessible symphony had to wait more than 40 years for its first commercial recording. Nowadays there are dozens from which to choose. A friend in Texas kindly alerted me to this one, part of an ongoing Mahler traversal conducted by Pierre Boulez.

The symphony's relative brevity is highlighted in this crisp, bracing performance which reaches its gently rocking conclusion three to five minutes ahead of other versions in my collection. Access is ensured by Boulez' care with orchestral textures and balance and by the glorious Cleveland acoustic. I'm not sure, however, that Boulez provides access to everything. Concurrently with composing this symphony, Mahler wrote, "Suddenly a stormy wind blows across the meadow and shakes the leaves and flowers which whimper and moan on their stems as if begging for salvation". I have always felt this awareness of a terror that can shake the apparent beauty when listening to Mahler, but I don't hear it here. True, Boulez takes care to observe the heavy portamento that Mahler asks of the violins at, for example, 4' 48" in the first movement, but elsewhere anything that might cloy or carry an emotional burden seems to have been expunged.

So this lovely recording does not make we feel I have had my withers wrung. It is a Mahler performance that refreshes. I especially like the contribution of Juliane Banse in the last movement. She meets Mahler's demand for "a singing voice with a gay, childlike sound, but entirely free from parody".

There are moments when you're brought up short by the enthusiasm of other listeners over a performance that sounds completely wrong to you. Boulez's Mahler ignores or skates over almost everything the composer stands for--inner conflict, struggling counterpoint, deep anguish alternating with surges of ecstasy, and above all, the expression of a powerful vitality. These are hallmarks not just of Mahler but of Romaanticism in art.

When Boulez brings his anti-romantic view to this music, I hear desecration but many others hear revelation. He's always been intentionally a divisive musician. However, Boulez possesses some undeniable vitures (precision, intellect, clarity) that are applied here. To appreciate those virtues you must allow yourself to accept Boulez's insistence in skimming over the surface of the score and erasing all of Mahelr's careful expression markings. I'm not very willing to give in, but if you are, please don't say that he has revealed the truth about Mahler or cleaned up other conductors' excesses. In reality Boulez uses his own style to trump Mahler's, and apparently many listeners find that a relief. The recorded sound from 2000 is thin and turns disagreeably harsh at loud volume.

The latest installment in Pierre Boulez's Mahler cycle is another compelling performance. However, it won't replace Bernstein's exuberant, lyrical interpretation with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as definitive. Yet there is much to admire in Boulez's interpretation. Here he opts for a clinical approach that dissects the rich textures in Mahler's music for much of the score, gently molding phrases. Yet he is also capable of much drama, bordering on exuberance, especially during the fourth movement. Speaking of the 4th movement, Ms. Banse's singing is replete with warm, lyrical phrasing. The Cleveland Orchestra's performance is impeccable, rich with brilliance and warmth. The strings and woodwinds play with the precision that they were known for during Szell's tenure as music director, but the other sections are just as superb. Once Boulez finishes recording all of Mahler's symphonies for Deutsche Grammophon, his cycle will be remembered as among the finest.

Let me make it clear right at the outset of my remarks that these are two wonderful recordings, and you won't go wrong purchasing either one. Both feature excellent performances in excellent sound. In terms of performance, Levi and his performers are slower in the outer movements, but they never seem to drag. Add to this the sound quality difference, with the Telarc disk having slightly greater depth and a bit deeper bass, plus a more realistic integration of the voice (Frederica von Stade) in the final movement, and a strong case can be made for choosing the Telarc disk over the DG. However, there is something to be said for the more sprightly tempi chosen by Boulez and the younger-sounding voice of his singer (Juliane Banse).

In the middle movements, things are more similar sounding in terms of both sound and performance; indeed, I was amazed when switching between the two CDs in the third movement to hear how closely the two versions tracked each other in terms of both sound and performance.

I suspect that many people will not even bother to listen to the Telarc, given that neither Levi nor the Atlanta orchestra are regarded as among the very best, nor does either have a reputation for the music of Mahler. Those who can get around their prejudices and listen to this recording with an open mind, however, will be rewarded with one of the finest Mahler performances available, recorded in excellent fashion. We all know that the Cleveland Orchestra is one of the world's best, and Pierre Boulez is one of our most celebrated conductors; their disk does not disappoint in any way.

As I said at the outset, you can't go wrong with either version. Were I forced to choose one over the other, I would choose the Telarc, because I prefer the slightly warmer and bass-rich sound and because it offers the Wayfarer songs as a bonus. But I am keeping them both, at least until I run into someone who is just starting to get excited about classical music; at the proper moment, I will give him or her the Boulez.

What I like very much with Mr. Pierre Boulez is his unscrupulesness with Mahler's music, his symphonies especially. I find his ways with Mahler rather refreshing (and equally legitimate). Boulez, like no other, approaches this music intellectually, completely circumventing any tradition or expectation of how this music 'should be played in the first place'. Often, IMHO, this works out rather well (also, for example, with his invigoratingly fresh recording of Das Lied von der Erde, also with his recordings of the Ninth and Sixth Symphonies, but missing out on something - at least to me - in the Fifth Symphony).

I have come to discover that I quite like how Boulez, with his clear-sighted, 'no nonsense conducting', somehow seems to be taking away the veils of accumulated playing-traditions. (Though I must hasten to say I could not tell if he is following the score scrupulously, because I do not have musical training whatsoever; I can't read music.) This no-nonsense attitude is also apparent in his choice for the soloist. Juliane Banse does not sound truly involved or appropriately joyful and childlike. She is just singing beautifully, not really making the heartstrings resonate in the way that Mahler may have meant (?). So much depends on this solo, and it doesn't really come off as it should, to my idea. As a sidenote: for this solo, to my ears, Helen Donath for Inbal is unparallelled. (His Mahler Cycle with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra is simply astounding, all of the entries highly rewarding, aside from a somewhat limp Das Lied von der Erde).

All in all, I think I 'sympathize' with Boulez, but I could not say I 'love' his interpretations as much as many others; for that, he misses out too much on the the lilt, the dance, the sarcasm, the humor, the irony, the Angst, the hope ... Why, even (?) Michael Tilson Thomas - a rather clear-headed and calculating conductor to my ears, but nonetheless very much in touch with 'Mahler the Man', I believe - to me sounds way more involved! (His Mahler Cycle with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra is turning out to be a huge & complete success, at least to this listener.) So, while making Mahler a lot more 'salonfähig' with this recording, this interpretation does miss out on that little extra (emotions?) to make it a truly wonderful recording for the 'true Mahlerian' (if there ever existed such a being), maybe. I like it less than his Das Lied von der Erde, but it is a nice recording nonetheless: as clear-sighted as can be and giving us the opportunity to listen to this symphony as pure, unadorned music. That has to count for something, I think.

I bought this reading with great scepticism but my opinion is that it's always good to hear something fresh. I am very happy that I bought it after all. Boulez is not my favourite Mahler interpretor but in this one he is more than good - he is great. The Fourth is surely not the most problematic of all Mahler Symphonies but is very common that conductors see it as a "Mahler" symphony (with whatever this may carry with it...) and trying to make it something it's not. Boulez reading is well paced and the playing is marvellous ( The Cleveland Orchestra has given us what I consider the best Fourth - Szell's Fourth). Juliane Banse's voice is good but can't match the greatness of this reading. I suppose that DG could give us something more (53 min is a bit short). That's the reason I do not give the fifth star.