Customer Reviews

Mahler: Symphony No. 6 / Rückert Lieder / Kindertotenlieder ~ Karajan / Ludwig

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This recording matches almost anything Karajan did in his career. Except for both of his later traversals of the Mahler Ninth, this is his finest Mahler. I know of no recording that captures the heartbreak of the Andante moderato with such beauty and resignation as this one does. Rarely will you hear an orchestra play with such richness and warmth as the Berliners do here. There are performances more violent and horrific (Barbarolli), or more wild and neurotic (Bernstein), but this is the most satisfying Sixth I've heard. The strength of Karajan in Bruckner and Mahler is his unerring capacity to take the listener through the journey without getting lost along the way. The combination of the orchestra's unmatched beauty and Karajan's sense of architecture is historic, and such unity of purpose is rarely bettered.

This reissue also offers Christa Ludwig in the Kindertotenlieder and Rueckert Lieder. Both performances are wonderful. Listen particularly to the first song of the Rueckert Lieder, "Ich bin der Welt ..." Mahler at its best.

This symphony, arguably Mahler's most grim, has a profoundly emotional effect on most listeners. The relentless march of the first movement, the contemplative and sorrowful slow movement, and the final half-hour or so with the "hammer blows of fate" make a riveting experience. This is also an extremely difficult piece to play, requiring an expert ensemble to make its impact.

This amazing recording not only produces that experience but displays von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic at their peak. Just listen to the last ten minutes of the opening movement, for example. I have a number of excellent recordings of this piece, but have never heard the final pages of the first movement played with such complete confidence and orchestral virtuosity. (And for that matter, at such a whirlwind speed.) In fact, if I were demonstrating to a friend "just what an orchestra is capable of," the end of the opening "Allegro" might be just the thing.

This fierce ending is then followed by a "Scherzo" that changes the mood somewhat, but only for awhile, until the great "Andante" begins the long descent into darkness until the end. The haunting slow movement must be one of Mahler's finest, and it is played superbly here; I couldn't get it out of my head for days afterward.

The "Finale" opens with a surge of orchestral power, gradually growing ever bleaker until the end. There are far too many great moments to mention; suffice to say that this movement - indeed, the entire symphony - is a serious test of a great orchestra's abilities. By the final pages, you are likely to feel emotionally exhausted.

Karajan and Berlin made many legendary recordings, but this one must be near the top of the list. One of their finest.

Karajan's approach to this work is surely one of the greatest achievements of the gramophone. Not only is his interpretation of magnificent richness and diversity, but the orchestra play with a cohesive feeling and understanding that one only finds in the very greatest performances. Karajan perfeectly grasps the linear structure of this piece, never letting the deterministic tinge of the adagio or passages of love and solemnity drop into banal irony (Bernstein does this, to disastrous ends). The finale is fabulous - there is always a sense of the hellish, fateful abyss barely concealed under the surface crust. He structures the movement to perfection (the finale can become monotonous) and every interlude devoted to love or his own children are so convincing that, when they are shattered in the hammer blows, one is truly effected. Astonishing.

This performance of the 6th is distinguished for me by a combination of a beauty of sound and refinement of textures that surpass all other recordings I have heard with the weight and power of phrasing and tone necessary to convey the gravitas and tragic intensity of this work. Compared to Bernstein's well known recording on Sony, also at midprice, I find it less emotionally wrought and volatile, more measured and monumental in its approach, yet with enough momentum to avoid sounding static. Ideally, one should have both. Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of this performance, along with his distinctly deliberate pacing of the second movement scherzo with barely any slowing down for the trio section (Szell also does it this way), is the andante moderato, which, at Karajan's expansive pace and long breathed phrasing, comes across as akin to a Bruckner adagio, full of heavenly bliss and exaltation, an approach in distinct contrast to the wrenching intensity that Bernstein brings to this movement.
The same concern for beauty and refinement of sound and textures also marks his conducting of the two Mahler song cycles, and Christa Ludwig sings with beauty and sensitivity. However, I feel that these performances, as fine as they are, ultimately fail to convey the heartbreaking poignancy of the justly acclaimed Barbirolli-Baker 1960s recordings of these pieces (available in beautifully remastered sound on EMI's Great Recordings of the Century series).
I strongly recommend this recording.

Hi Volks:

I'll spare you the boasting of how many recordings of the 6th I own, and comparisons between this and those. I'll simply state, for those of you who are looking, that this is the most sublime and deeply moving of all recordings of this symphony. I doubt seriously it will ever be topped in interpretive criteria.

The recording is not the best, of course -- The Berliners in that venue were always difficult to capture. However, it is still very good. It is the playing that matters. This seems to be an example of one of the rarest of moments when all forces converged to produce something magical.

The playing is flawless, the orchestra demonstrating virtuosity beyond all others, and Karajan's interpretation is deeply, deeply moving as if only he, and he alone, understands this complex creation and is capable of bringing us into Mahler's world.

I am aware of the "muscial snobs" opinions about Karajan and Mahler; but, rest assured, among the dozens of recordings of this symphony, Karajan reigns supreme and is unmatched by any modern recording.

Superlative. Karajan's recording of Mahler 6 touches so deeply that it is difficult to not feel the true tragic nature of the symphony. From the opening march, Karajan sets a steady tempo that never drags, nor does it feel slightly breathless. His interpretation allows just the right amount of space to reflect on the harmonies and drama that mark this work as one of the greatest of the Mahler canon.

Playing is spotless, precise and meticulous playing, combined with a sense of drama, with a wonderfully matched and well thought out finale. The gut-wrenching finale is so well spaced and left to hang that it is undoubtedly one of the finest moments in symphonic literature, a point which Karajan realises and portrays with utter faithfulness. Nothing less than 5 stars.

This is one of the better versions of Mahler's Sixth for those of us who like to hear authentic cowbells. You can clearly hear the bells, not only in the fourth movement, but also the first and third--and the cowbells sound the way cowbells should, and add what I think Mahler wanted to the impact.

As we would expect from Karajan, the music is crisp and precise, with a transparency that lets us hear things often overlooked. The xylophone is particularly effective in Mahler's version of a Danse Macabre. Author David Hurwitz refers to it as "a magnificently haunted sound."

The final crash in the fourth movement is absolutely annihilating. You've never heard a finish like this one!

Christa Ludwig's singing of the Kindertotenlieder and Ruckert Lieder is the definitive performance of these Mahler songs.

The finest Mahler'sixth on record as is attested by other reviewers. The performance has depth, yet is unswerving, thus retaining the melodic structure. Lines are clearly articulated while the playing has a rich luster. Karajan's well organized approach is in stark contrast to others on record. A must for any Mahlerian.

I have an aversion to 'objective' Mahler performances, given that the composer himself was famous for his passion and spontaneity on the podium. Admirers of Szell's Mahler Sixth, which sounds rigid and bloodless to me, are as baffling as admirers of Boulez's chilly x-ray of the score. But I am drawn up short by Karajan, whose famous and much acclaimed version is almost equally objective. He sets his chosen tempo in each movement and keeps to it; he indulges in almost no expressive rubato; Mahler's streak of bitter satire is missing throughout in favor of a smooth, clean line.

Why, then, is this a great recording? I can sympathize with listeners who protest that it isn't, yet Karajan brings unrivalaed technical command to this complex, highly detailed score. Aided by DG's excellent engineering, one is thoroughly immersed in a world of astonishing orchestral sounds. The BPO went on to make a live recording of the Sixth under Abbado, also on DG, that's jsut as perfeclty executed but considerably warmer and more flexible. In that regard, time may have passed Karajan by. I will still treasure his account, albeit my ideal Mahler is more subjective and wild in temperament.

About the two song cycles from Christa Ludwig there can be no reservations -- this is Mahler singing at the very height of beauty and interpretative wisdom.

You must listen to this Finale. With Karajan's razor-sharp precision and the orchestras rich, round, and rock-solid synchronization, this IS the greatest Fourth Movement available.
In fact I would also agree that it is one of the greatest achievements on Disc both Technically and Sonically.
Although the Orchestra is, literally, Perfect; Karajan's interpretation can get a little too mannered in the Scherzo. Its just not edgy enough for my taste. Try Bernstein's on Sony.
As for the other movements, this is simply Karajan showing off his orchestra's unbelievable quality of sound, that no other orchestra could ever obtain. Bravo.