Mahler: Symphony No. 4; Symphony No. 2

Gustav Mahler (Artist), Claudio Abbado (Artist), Marilyn Horne (Artist), Frederica von Stade (Artist), Carol Neblett (Artist), Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 16, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001GY5
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,225 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #19 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Von Stade, Frederica
  • #20 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Horne, Marilyn

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Resurrection" to leave you in tears, March 5, 2000

By 

Thomas B Dawkins - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 4; Symphony No. 2 (Audio CD)

My first encounter with this recording of the Mahler Second was in the listening library at Brandeis, and I'm sure the rest of the room thought I was insane. (I tend to get into the music a bit...) Marilyn Horne's "Urlicht" is enough reason to get this recording in the first place, but what a pity it would be to miss the other seventy-five minutes! As would be expected, Abbado leads the symphony in an appropriately operatic fashion. The first movement "Totenfeier" is appropriately martial and Germanic without being overly weighty. The contrasts between the percussive march and lyrical "Pastorale" sections are marked, but executed seamlessly. The second movement, often considered to be a good deal less exciting than those that surround it, leaves itself suspended slightly on every note so that you absolutely MUST hear what follows. The Scherzo is snarling at points, lyric at others, until it erupts in a violent finish. Enter Ms. Horne with the "Urlicht" or "First Light" from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. When I first listened to this, the tears kept streaming down my face well into the next movement, which alternates Armageddon/Resurrection like no other. Particularly effective are two parts: the long percussion crescendo before the c minor march, and the suspended "Last Trumpet" before the choir enters with the hymn "Aufersteh'n" of Klopstock. This is where Abbado's operatic conducting shines; the voices are always primary with exquisite orchestral coloring that never overtakes the soloists as is very possible in Mahler. The end is slow, exultant, and sublime.Lest you forget that this set also includes an entire other symphony! (the fourth) Von Stade's "Himmlisches Leben" is just as serene and pure as any boy soprano's, although it does lack the eerie quality that only a young boy can give to the part. The rest of the fourth is lustrous, including a very slow, very marvelous third movement and a haunting second.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolutely breathtaking peformance. Abbado triumphs., October 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 4; Symphony No. 2 (Audio CD)

Abbado is one of my favorite conductors. And Mahler is probably my favorite composer. But this truly is Mahler and Abbado at their best. The 2nd symphony is undescribably magnificant. Even though I've listened to it probably 30 or 40 times, the last movement of the 2nd still always gives me chills down my spine. And sometimes even a few tears to my eye. The building is so incredible is the last movement! The 4th symphony is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard. The sound of sleigh bells in the opening(and a violin solo in the first movement), to the beauty of the 3rd movement, to the heavenly singing of Frederica von Stade in the last movement to the soft, tranquill ending with the harp solo in the last few bars. And the cost is unbelievable. It is two for the price of one. I have seen recordings of just the 2nd for as much as 33 dollars. But with this, you get it and the 4th for half the price of just the 2nd! Beautifully recorded, great price, great music. Nothing can beat this.

Christmas is coming soon, people. This will be a great gift for any classical fan. Even if they haven't heard anything by Mahler before, you will want all his symphonies after you hear this. I strongly recommend this to any classical fan, Mahler fan(even if you have these symphonies already), or just for people who like great music.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of Abbado's best early Mahler, and often a revelation, September 18, 2007

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mahler: Symphony No. 4; Symphony No. 2 (Audio CD)

After hearing most of Abbado's Mahler, early and late, I had formed the opinion that he steadily improved, moving from fussy caution to a real and deep understanding of Mahler's world. But just in case there were some early gems, I went back to this bargain two-fer of the Second and Fourth Syms. recorded in Chicago and Vienna. At present this packaging is the only way to acquire Abbado's earliest account of the Second; the Fourth can be had in his complete Mahler cycle.

Sym. #4: As you might expect from Vienna, the lyricism of the opening movement strikes with real poingnancy. Abbado's recent live remake with the Berlin Phil. bowled me over, but this VPO performance is just as winning. Some listeners may find the devil's fiddle too gentlemanly in the second movement, which Abbado plays rather fast and straight compared to, say, Bernstein. Mahler marks the slow movement "poco Adagio," but Abbado, like James Levine, opts for an all-out Adagio. Happily, the flexible phrasing of the incomparable Vienna strings enables a very slow melodic line to hold together ravishingly. Abbado seems to have a penchant for choosing off-beat soloists in the finale -- Renee Felming with her plush, mature soprano in his later recording and mezzo Frederica von Stade here. I don't think another mezzo has recorded the role. Von Stade sounds fresh and encompasses the notes well, but she does little to sound innocent and child-like. Her success depends entirely upon musical skill and beauty of tone. In all, an outstanding Fourth that has been overlooked.

Sym. #2: Solti was such an attack dog that he ruined my conception of the CSO, which was capable of amazing nuance under Reiner. They are reacquainted with their sensitive side here under Abbado. Unlike Solti's famed Mahler Seconds, the first movement isn't fierce and biting. If anything, Abbado seems a little soft-grained, but he shows great natural instincts in this music, bridging Mahler's dramatic contrasts very convincingly. The second movement minuet is delicate but alert -- too often this movement falls flat while the audience waits for the dam to burst in the last movement.

Post-Bernstein one has come to expect the Scherzo to contain a good deal of satiric edge. Abbado starts off with gunshot strokes of the timpani, but his approach to this movement remains on the effete side; it sounds like a continuation of the preceding classical mood. The best thing here is the playing of the woodwinds, which is full of character even at low temperature. Marilyn Horne defies her image as a leather-lung extrovert by singing "Urlicht" with grave sincerity. The floodgates are expected to open next, and they do, with phenomenal tutti playing from the brass section. DG's engineering thankfully doesn't land them in our laps, so we get to hear nice counterpoint from the woodwind soloists.

Mahler has managed the finale's unfolding apocalypse so skillfully that conductors are well advised not to get in his way, and Abbado doesn't. He sees it as his job to deliver the most perfect orchestral balance at a steady pace. It goes without saying that the CSO chorus outdoes almost every other on CD for sheer accuracy and beauty of tone. When another reviewer speaks of being brought to tears, I think the chorus's hushed reverence must have been the cause.

In the end, I was thrilled to discover two great performances that were lying right under my nose. I agree with the previous comment that this is Abbado's best (of three) Mahler Second, and the Fourth can stand comparison with any.