Mahler: Lieder / Pierre BoulezDeutsche Grammophon | Boulez 2005 | 02 Jan. 2005Lossless: EAC | ape (img + cue) | log | 203 MB Lossy : Easy CD-DA Extractor | mp3 | 320 kbps | 140 MB
These songs reveal Mahler, that frankly autobiographical composer, at his emotionally most personal. For the Songs of a Wayfarer, the earliest cycle (later extensively revised), the poetry - a sorrowful tale of unrequited young love - is Mahler's own. The music is simple, lyrical, and deeply moving, going from inward grief through suicidal anguish to calm resignation. (Two of the themes reappear in the First Symphony.) In Kindertotenlieder, the poet Friedrich Rückert laments the loss of his children, a tragedy he knew from personal experience. Mahler, however, began composing the music before he became a father; two years after he'd completed it, his older daughter died. The cycle contains some of the most harrowing, wrenching songs in the literature. By contrast, the five other Rückert songs radiate a serene happiness that is like a breath of fresh air. The performances on this disc are breathtaking. Quasthoff's voice seems to become more and more beautiful; pure, velvety and warm, it has an endless range of dynamics, nuances and inflections. He draws the listener in from the first moment. Urmana gives the Rückert songs just the right sunny lightness, soaring up in long, sustained, caressing phrases; she keeps the last song, "Um Mitternacht," from becoming bombastic. Although the Kindertotenlieder are really a bereaved father's lament, von Otter makes them totally convincing. Her voice is dark, intense, and luminous. As for the orchestra, Boulez inspires masterful precision and impeccable balance, letting every line stand out. He turns Mahler's incomparable instrumentation into a tapestry of blazing, glittering colors, unleashing both inward and outward tempests. This record will leave you overwhelmed and heartbroken.
Edith Eisler, Amazon.com
Instead of having the same soloist in all three works, Pierre Boulez has chosen the clear-toned baritone Thomas Quasthoff in the Wayfaring Lad songs, the velvety soprano Violeta Urmana for the Rückert Lieder and the ever-perceptive mezzo Anne Sofie von Otter for the darkest of the three cycles on the death of children. The precision and clarity of these performances are exceptional, with each phrase meticulously pointed and with each singer shading tone as subtly as Boulez moulds the playing of the Vienna Philharmonic's superb soloists.
Penguin Guide
You may be tempted by Pierre Boulez's new Mahler disc . . . no fluffiness here. And the vocal casting is luxurious . . . these Wayfarer songs . . . receive subtly responsive interpretations.
The Times (London)
. . . a series of anniversary releases -- which show all his considerable interpretative strengths . . . [Boulez's] approach here allows the intelligence and artistry of three admirable soloists and the Vienna Philharmonic to emerge with compelling force.
Music Week (London)
This is a most impressive disc . . . Pierre Boulez . . . seems to have mellowed to a point where his conducting of the Vienna Philharmonic sounds as warm as Bruno Walter's . . . He not only shows a sympathy with his singers, but also seems to mind what they are doing . . . Thomas Quasthoff produces . . . a definitive account of "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen", setting out with high hopes, recording their crushing with moving lack of self-pity, so that this youthful cycle does seem closer to "Die schöne Müllerin" than usual. The rage in the third song, the desolation and disintegration of the last, make a most moving impression . . . Anne Sofie von Otter is here supreme in the "Kindertotenlieder", and so is Boulez. Played and sung with such intimacy and heartfelt simplicity, one can feel them to be Mahler's perfect work . . . This is a recording for which one can confidently predict a long life.
Michael Tanner, International Record Review (London)
This is an excellent album . . . Thomas Quasthoff is expectedly strong in "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" and Anne Sofie von Otter gratifyingly so in "Kindertotenlieder" . . . The disc is only enhanced by the vibrant playing of the Vienna Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez. Deutsche Grammophon's recording gives full and accurate voice to those colorful and piquant, if not gamy, Viennese woodwinds. There is every reason to buy this recording.
James R. Oestreich, The New York Times
Without question, this is the best disc of Mahler songs to come along in many a moon. All three singers have a lot to offer the music, and Boulez conducts with typical clarity, leading the orchestra with great discipline as well as an usually high level of what sounds suspiciously like emotional commitment . . . Thomas Quasthoff typically marvelous . . .Violeta Urmana's lighter soprano (compared to Otter) suits the chamber-music delicacy of the Rückert songs well, and it's good to hear her in excellent form . . . Anne Sofie von Otter's contribution to the "Kindertotenlieder" finds her on the same high level as her colleagues . . . God knows how many recordings I have of this music, but when I feel like listing to any of these songs, it will be
difficult not to reach for this disc first.
David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
. . . the orchestral delicacies of these songs bring out the latent sensualist in the French
composer-conductor. He audibly relishes the subtleties of line and color, and the Vienna Philharmonic plays gorgeously, the silken horns especially so. Both voices and orchestra are captured with uncanny naturalness.
Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News
. . . the orchestral delicacies of these songs bring out the latent sensualist in the French
composer-conductor. He audibly relishes the subtleties of line and color, and the Vienna
Philharmonic plays gorgeously, the silken horns especially so. Both voices and orchestra are captured with uncanny naturalness. Thomas Quasthoff's sinewy baritone is quite to the point of the Wayfarer songs, as is his mix of vulnerability and rage. With a glowing tone somewhere between soprano and mezzo, Violeta Urmana sings lovingly in the
Rückert songs.
Scott Cantrell, WVEC TV
Nothing in Pierre Boulez's Mahler cycle so far has been as illuminating and beautiful as his new CD . . . Boulez in the second half of life has turned into one of the greatest of Mahlerians . . . The conducting and playing, on the other hand, are simply unparalleled. You haven't heard everything these songs contain until you've experienced this CD . . . Drop the needle anywhere and brace yourself for amazement.
Tim Pfaff, Bay Area Reporter
As expected, the conductor clarifies orchestral textures, often with magical results . . . breathtaking . . . Equally absorbing . . . is the different chemistry between Boulez and each of the singers. Thomas Quasthoff elicits the most highly charged reading. With plangent, aching tone and carefully weighted emphases, he indicates how deeply bitterness has seeped into this wayfarer's veins . . . Anne Sofie von Otter's long-awaited recording of the "Kindertotenlieder" is deeply felt and notable for its nobility; if this is a bereaved parent, it's surely an aristocratic one . . . Clearly, there's plenty here to gratify and provoke the devoted Mahlerian . . . this is a disc that deserves to be heard.
Andrew Farach-Colton, Gramophone (London)
. . . these are inevitably performances of considerably beauty and accomplishment.
Hilary Finch, BBC Music Magazine (London)
Boulez is not as laid back as he often is. The songs are dramatic, tender, happy, sad, and humorous. He captures these diverse moods superbly, and the Vienna Philharmonic is with him all the way . . . Quasthoff sings superbly and with great expression . . . von Otter is her glorious self . . . This is a wonderful set, displaying great artistry in an excellent sonic setting.
American Record Guide |
GUSTAV MAHLER:
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Thomas Quasthoff, bass-baritone
Rückert Lieder
Violeta Urmana, soprano
Kindertotenlieder
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Wiener Philharmoniker
dir. Pierre Boulez
Rec.: Vienna, Musikverein, Großer Saal, 6/2003
Download:
Lossless:
http://rapidshare.com/files/309259177/MLR.LDR.BLZ.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/309296952/MLR.LDR.BLZ.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/309263513/MLR.LDR.BLZ.part3.rar
Lossy:
http://rapidshare.com/files/148223241/MHL-L-BZ.rar.html
Password: gv80
|
