Search - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gustav Mahler, Franz [Vienna] Schubert :: Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde; Symphony No. 4

First rate Mahler interpretations

L. Johan Modée | Earth | 08/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is not only a fine bargain set, with two of Mahler's most loved works, but also a set with two of the best Mahler recordings money can buy: the classic Paul Kletzki performances.



First, Kletzki's interpretation of the 4th symphony from 1957, with Philharmonia Orchestra, ranks among the very best of the classic recordings (e.g., Barbirolli, Horenstein, Kubelik, Abravanel).



The special quality with the Kletzki take consists in his straightforward but sensitive approach, which emphasizes the shifting moods of Mahler's music. And he has Emmy Loose, who gives us of one of the best child-like performances of this movement ever, comparable to Battle, for Maazel, and Davrath, for Abravanel.



Secondly, we get an excellent performance of Das Lied von der Erde in the version for a baritone instead of a mezzo (together with the tenor part), recorded in 1959. It is a classic though underrated accounts: Paul Kletzki is again conducting the Philharmonia, and Murray Dickie (tenor) and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) are soloists.



At face value, and with recording history in mind, one could have expected that this recording would be no match for the later very famous Bernstein version, with Vienna PO, having Fischer-Dieskau and King as soloists.



But in my view, Kletzki is here a far better interpreter than Bernstein - he is simply more frantic and straightforward, less sentimental. And this makes a great deal when comparing these discs: where Bernstein lets his passion interrupt the flow of the music, so that we hear more of Bernstein than of Mahler, Kletzki makes the Philharmonia play as if it were the last day of the world - as I suppose Mahler would have done it.



Regarding the soloists on the Kletzki take: Dickie is impressive, even if he's not a Heldentenor like King. And Fischer-Dieskau, in fine voice, is singing with a sense of discovery. On the Bernstein take, by contrast, he sings more or less on routine.



Moreover, having the age of these recordings in mind, the recording quality is acceptable. Unfortunately, however, EMI has not remastered the original analogue recording for this 2005 compilation. We still get the old 1990 and 1993 remasterings, which - esp. in the case of Das Lied von der Erde - are not as good as possible. In Das Lied, the upper register is sometimes very harsh, especially when Dickie sings. But don't let this setback prevent you from discovering these excellent interpretations.



Recommended, despite the sound for Das Lied.





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Kletzki fanciers will rejoice

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 03/21/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Paul Kletzki, the Polish-Swiss conductor who served as one of several house maestros at EMI during the Fifties and early Sixties, has become a minor cult figure. Overshadowed by greater lights at his home label (Giulini, Karajan, Klemperer), Kletzki's obscurity has only increased his reputation among diehard fans. Here we have a bargain re-release of probably his two most famous recordings, both of Mahler.



The Sym. #4 is unforced and natural in expression, and the Philharmonia, caught in good sound, plays beautifully if a bit plainly for Kletzki. He doesn't have an abundance of ideas or a surfeit of intensity, but that's the point: this is Mahler from the perspective of an anti-Bernstein. Many of Mahler's precise directions go begging, but Emmy Loose is very pure and affecting in the last movement. In fact, she is so good that Kletzki allows her to take the lead, turning the finale into a song with orchestral accompaniment. Few, if any, other sopranos have earned such a compliment.



The Das Lied is more important because it gives us the best performance on disc of Mahler's alternative version with a baritone replacing a female voice in half the songs. In this role Fischer-Dieskau is incomparable; he was a great Mahler singer from early on, and at the turn of the Sixties, when this recording was made, he had acquired none of the annoying mannreisms (crooning, barking, over-emphatic attacks) that mar his self-indulgent Das Lied under Bernstein on Decca. Here, his singing is natural and eloquent, without the slightest exaggeration for effect.



Even better, his tenor counterpart is the exemplary Murray Dickie, who outstrips every rival for vocalism and musicality except Wunderlich, Patzak, and Heppner. They are all much more famous than Dickie, but he adds immensely to the performance, which is conducted exceptionally wel, though not inwardly, by Kletzki--his extroversion is refreshing.



For fans of Kletzki this will be a five-star release, but in light of the truly great recordings of both works, I give it four."

A must in your collection!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 02/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If I was required by any newcomer in order to initiate in Mahler, I really would suggest to begin with the Fourth Symphony. It's by far the easiest to listen, its sheer lyricism and straight musicality make of it the most attainable among the rest of Mahler's symphonies



Paul Kletzki has been one of these curious cases of what I might label as overlooked conductor, despite his smart intelligence and sense of that so coveted sense of the idiomatic language demanded by Mahler.



He not only gave first-rate performances, he impressed them also of lucid brightness, imaginative freshness and radiant lyricism, conveying the listener to unexplored landscapes inside the Mahlerian universe.



This Mahler's Fourth is to my mind, the most interesting reading after Bruno Walter's performance of 1947 with the New York Philharmonic.



Not to be missed.

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