Mahler - Des Knaben Wunderhorn / von Otter, Quasthoff, Berlin Phil., Abbado

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Des Knaben Wunderhorn ("The Youth's Magic Horn") is an anthology of old German poems and folk songs published in the early 1800s, a product of the Romantic yearning for the simple days of the past. By the time Mahler set a number of them to music (between 1892 and 1901), the Zeitgeist had changed, and his approach is almost antiromantic in feeling. He used eight of them in his symphonies, and chose 13 (often changing the text for his own purposes) for this collection. These elaborately orchestrated songs speak of love, life in the military, comedic episodes, mysticism, and sometimes several of these at once. The recording by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf has set the standard for many years, but this new version is just about as good. Both singers have fine voices, intelligence and understanding, and good technique and diction, and they express the changing moods of the songs very effectively. Thomas Quasthoff doesn't quite have Fischer-Dieskau's security and pointed phrasing, but he comes close, and Anne Sophie von Otter sings with a subtlety that rivals Schwarzkopf and with greater beauty and radiance. The accompaniment by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic is crisp and idiomatic, and the sound is excellent. Highly recommended. --Alex Morin

Mahler - Des Knaben Wunderhorn / von Otter, Quasthoff, Berlin Phil., Abbado, Music, Gustav Mahler, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, Anne Sofie von Otter, Thomas Quasthoff, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Classical Vocals, Song Collection for Solo Voice with Piano or Orchestra, Vocal

Mahler - Des Knaben Wunderhorn / von Otter, Quasthoff, Berlin Phil., Abbado
Average customer rating:

A Small Reservation/Complaint

ausdrucksvoll und machtig

It just doesn't get much better than this!

A TRUE LANDMARK IN LIEDER RECORDING

Mein Gott im Himmel!

Mahler - Des Knaben Wunderhorn / von Otter, Quasthoff, Berlin Phil., Abbado
Gustav Mahler , Berliner Philharmoniker , Claudio Abbado , Anne Sofie von Otter , and Thomas Quasthoff
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000J9G6
Release Date: 1999-06-15

Tracks:

Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Revelge
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Rheinlegendchen
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Trost im Ungluck
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Verlorne Muh'
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Der Schildwache Nachtlied
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Das irdische Leben
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Lied des Verfolgten im Turm
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht?
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Lob des hohen Verstandes
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Wo die sch Trompeten blasen
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Der Tamboursg'sell
Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Urlicht

Amazon.com

Des Knaben Wunderhorn ("The Youth's Magic Horn") is an anthology of old German poems and folk songs published in the early 1800s, a product of the Romantic yearning for the simple days of the past. By the time Mahler set a number of them to music (between 1892 and 1901), the Zeitgeist had changed, and his approach is almost antiromantic in feeling. He used eight of them in his symphonies, and chose 13 (often changing the text for his own purposes) for this collection. These elaborately orchestrated songs speak of love, life in the military, comedic episodes, mysticism, and sometimes several of these at once. The recording by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf has set the standard for many years, but this new version is just about as good. Both singers have fine voices, intelligence and understanding, and good technique and diction, and they express the changing moods of the songs very effectively. Thomas Quasthoff doesn't quite have Fischer-Dieskau's security and pointed phrasing, but he comes close, and Anne Sophie von Otter sings with a subtlety that rivals Schwarzkopf and with greater beauty and radiance. The accompaniment by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic is crisp and idiomatic, and the sound is excellent. Highly recommended. --Alex Morin

Customer Reviews:

A Small Reservation/Complaint.......2005-04-14

Perhaps it should be mentioned that 5 of the songs in Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn are set as dialogues between a soldier and a girl. In both the Baker/Evans and Schwartzkopf/Fischer-Dieskau recordings, both singers participate in those songs. In this recording, these songs are performed by one or the other of the two vocalists;not both.

ausdrucksvoll und machtig.......2004-12-26

This is a fantastic reading of these songs. Both von Otter and Quasthoff are superb Mahlerians who give these songs distinct character and color. Quasthoff's singing of Der Tamboursg'sell is most affecting. The pathos of the song is wonderfully brought out.
I've heard many singers tackle these songs (Bernd Weikl does a fine job as well) but the performances here stack up with the best of them.

It just doesn't get much better than this!.......2004-11-13

Having reviewed the Bonney/Goerne/Chailly recording of Mahler's DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN and settling in to that fine CD of this important cycle of songs, it feels a bit traitor-like to offer a new recommendation of this music. Perhaps it is partially due to being in the afterglow of Thomas Quasthoff's radiant performance of KINDERTOTENLIEDER with the Los Angeles Philharmonic that propelled the purchase of this CD.

Be that as it may, this volume of the songs of DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN now tops the list. Anne Sophie von Otter is such an extraordinary artist that her performance here is no surprise in its execution, subtlety, and sensitivity. But it is the revelation of Thomas Quasthoff as a Mahler virtuoso that crowns this wondrous recital. His voice is not huge, but it is so intelligently used and has such intrinsic beauty and nuance that it begs comparison with the finest singers in this repertoire of the last century. Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic provide the finest possible collaboration.

One can only hope that he will soon record KINDERTOTENLIEDER: rarely sung by a male voice, Quasthoff brings insights that are continuously revealing in this most difficult of Mahler's song cycles. Grady Harp, November 2004

A TRUE LANDMARK IN LIEDER RECORDING.......2002-09-09

I received this album by accident, as a record club recording of the month that I had neglected to cancel. I could have returned it to the club, but decided to keep it because of the connections between "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" and Mahler's astonishing second symphony which I have loved for many years.

It turned out to be a lucky accident. These are flawless songs, perfectly exhibiting the craft of the second-greatest orchestrator in history. This new recording combines the talents of two of the greatest living lieder-singers with one of the few truly world-class teamings of orchestra and conductor. The sound quality is outstanding even by the best modern digital standards.

In historic terms also, this is a significant milestone. To my ears, certainly, no one is ever likely to match Fischer-Dieskau's iron-fist-in-a-velvet-glove combination of power and smoothness, or his dramatic flexibility. However, Quasthoff's own experience of triumph over adversity does seem to give his reading a special value in these lyrics that are so trifling on the surface and yet have such profound depths of insight into the human soul. Von Otter in the songs for female voice gives what is perhaps the new definitive performance. And ultimately in terms of overall listening enjoyment, no other version (not even the Fischer-Dieskau/Schwarzkopf set) can compare.

This is beautiful music, wonderfully performed, expertly engineered, and unreservedly recommended.

Mein Gott im Himmel!.......2002-05-09

If you have the slightest susceptability to Mahler or lieder or people screaming (and whispering) in German, I can recommend this CD. Excellent sound in the service of one of the greatest group of art songs ever put down. Go Sophie! And Thomas Quasthoff is in fine baritone voice, and recorded in hair-raisingly expressive sonics. There are not many finer than this; highly recommended.

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