Search - Michael Gielen, SWR Sinfonieorchester, Anton Webern :: Mahler: Symphony No. 3; Schubert: "Rosamunde;" Webern: Six Pieces for Orchestra / Gielen, SWR Sinfonieorchester

Michael Gielen's ongoing Mahler cycle may not be getting the publicity of some others, but it may go down as one of the great Mahler contributions of the decade. The Third Symphony is done with obvious personal involvement, despite Gielen's reputation as a Boulez-like "objective" conductor who eschews excess. In fact, for all its surface literalism and broad tempos, his performance stands out for its refusal to smooth over the wild unruliness of Mahler's music. We get squawking woodwinds and vulgar trombone glissandos of the sort better-mannered conductors refuse to give us, notwithstanding Mahler's very specific instructions. Gielen's radio orchestra is as good as its rivals; Cornelia Kallisch's alto solo touches the heart; and superior, detailed sound lets us hear subtleties missing elsewhere. No matter how many Mahler Thirds you have, you'll find something new and interesting in Gielen's. The substantial filler is an odd-couple pairing of Schubert's Rosamunde music provocatively interspersed with Webern's Six Pieces. Gielen says this "montage concept" illuminates kindred works. Maybe. To me, it just sounds like Schubert pieces alternating with Webern's. But that's why your CD player has a programming function. --Dan Davis