Pablo Massa wrote:

>... I propose a thread about favourite recordings of Mahler's 4th and 8th.

I have recently acquired several new performances of Mahler's 4th symphony
which augemened my Raskin/Cleveland O/Szell (my standby), Te Kanawa/Chicago
SO/Solti (in the complete set--not one of the stronger performances), and
Battle/Vienna PO/Maazel (the only movement of this I've listened to in the
past two years is the last--magnificent).

I bought three new recordings and re-evaluated one that had sat on my shelf
for about two years.  A brief overview follows:

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf/Philharmonia Orchestra/Otto Klemperer (EMI 67035) [w/
Christa Ludwig and orch.  in 5 various songs]:

Klemperer gets just about everything right and is faithful to Mahler's
score in just about every way.  His tempos are neither extremely fast or
slow--III.  is taken a shade faster than normal--but nothing too out of
the ordinary.  The first movement is very well played and flows nicely.
I didn't find anything particularly 'special' in this movement, but it
definitely draws the listener in and provides a good starting point for
the rest of the symphony.  Klemperer really shines in II.  and III.  The
second movement has the perfect blend of forward thrust and sardonic
'tongue-twisting' that makes this performance irresistable.  III.  is
a very direct reading.  Klemperer doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve
(as Welser-Most does) but the result is never cold.  The strings in this
movement achieve a sense of blend typical of the Vienna Phil.  string
section.  The transitions are handled masterfully (I especially liked the
build at reh.  8--about 1:30 before the 'Allegro subito'), and Klemperer
thankfully doesn't overemote at the final outburst before the end of the
movement.  Unfortunately, IV.  suffers because someone must have kidnapped
the real E.  Schwarzkopf and replaced her with a blues singer.  Her growly
tone in this movement is completey un-'childlike' and seems asolutely 'mit
Parodie'.  Unfortunately I find this last movement unlistenable (this is
the only Schwarzkopf recording I can think of that sounds this bad).

Felicity Lott/London PO/Franz Welser-Most (EMI 73437)

Welser-Most's reading, after four listenings in different states of mind,
seems to strive to hard at profudity.  His penchant for overly slow tempos
in all movements (II.  is about 'average') really struck me as wayward and
not pursuasive.  I've read in several places that W-M's III.  is one of the
most 'sensuous' on record, but I found some of his transitions (especially
the gaping break which is supposed to be only a 'Luftpause' before the
final outburst) really interrupted any feelings of sensuality that I was
beginning to have.  Felicity Lott is also disappointing in the finale.  Her
vibrato at times becomes almost trill-like and her diction is extremely
lazy (ie.  Gar'd'en instead of Gar't'en)...these little differences were
apparent upon first hearing and only became more and more grating as my
listenings progressed.  Welser-Most also makes some odd tempo decisions
in this movement.  The interlude before the singer's last stanza ('Kein
Musik ist ja nicht auf Erden....') is marked 'Tempo I' and W-M takes it
markedly slower than the beginning of the movement, which detracts for the
'zartlichkeit' of the final section.  With all this said, I do find the
recording, for some reason, intriguing, especially II--the movement with
the least idiosyncracies in it.  The London PO doesn't have the blended
sound that is present on all of the other recordings (even Solti) and I
found this destracting, especially in the sections where Mahler cuts the
orchestration down to three or four wind instruments.

Juliane Banse/Cleveland O/Pierre Boulez (DG 463257)

A pleasent surprise.  I've read many scathing reviews already about this
recording, but I found it very successful and enjoyable to listen to.
Needless to say, the Cleveland O has a great history with this work and
sounds magnificent.  Many of the wind solos are phenomenal and I got a
sense of well thought out musical direction in all sections of the
orchestra.  Juliane Banse is lovely in the finale, if not quite on the
level of Battle.  Boulez is rather quick in I., but the level of clarity
in the playing and recording sweep one along.  This Boulezian clarity,
present in all of his Mahler recordings (even the earlier BBC ones),
casts a dark hue on parts of the symphony which I found particularly
attractive--I've often been confused at people's assertion that this
symphony is "Sunny"--and, performed in near-perfect compliance with
Mahler's expressive markings in the score, the contrast between 'sunny' and
darker sections of the work are much more apparent in this recording than
in any other I've heard.  This works extremely well in II., and in III.  I
found Boulez came extremely close to matching Klemperer's reserved passion.

Kathleen Battle/Vienna PO/Lorin Maazel (CBS/Sony 44908):

This recording is worth getting for the last movement alone.  Battle is
ideal for this movement, and her singing is definitely childlike--her tone
projects innocence and, yes, naivety unlike any other.  Her voice has a
radiant glow around it that suits this movement perfectly.  The measured
approach adds to the tender nature, and, needless to say, the Vienna PO
match Battle's beauty.  The other movements, while not quite on par with
this achievement, are very good also.  This is a much more consistent
reading that, say, Maazel's Fifth in the same series, and just about all
of the chances he takes pay off (whereas in the Fifth the majority don't).
I don't find his measured tempos at all intrusive, and I can't overstate
how lovely the performance of the last movement is.

In conclusion, I would probably have to rule out Solti and Welser-Most
as first choices.  Solti's recording isn't really necessary at all.
Welser-Most should be a third or fourth addition to one's library.  A great
first recording for anybody interested in the piece would be Maazel's.
Klemperer's is a good second choice, although don't be surprised if you
switch recordings for IV.  If you like Boulez's cycle so far, his fourth
will please you.  If you are unfamiliar with any of his recordings, you
will also be satisfied.  If you don't care for Boulez's style of
conducting, this recording probably isn't for you.

I am still waiting to see if DG remasters Sinopoli's account.  For some
reason I think it could be interesting.  I'm sure there are other great
recordings out there that I'm just not aware of---yet (Walter most notably).

Hope that made sense!

Cheers,

Marcus Maroney
[log in to unmask]
http://www.geocities.com/marcus.maroney