Christian Gerhaher is a splendid Lieder singer. He has already recorded some of these songs with piano (on RCA), and like those versions these live recordings, before a not ideally quiet audience, display a touching intimacy and spontaneity. The Songs of a Wayfarer come across best, as both the singing and the conducting have a youthful freshness that suits the music especially well. The final song of the Kindertotenlieder is also quite exciting at this tempo, and the concluding lullaby is sung with a gentle simplicity that’s absolutely exquisite. The entire cycle also features some very beautiful playing from the solo winds, oboe and horn especially.
There are a couple of places, however, where the tempos seem a touch swifter than ideal. This is particularly noticeable in the first of the Kindertotenlieder, and also in the big Rückert songs, especially Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen. That song needs a more deliberate approach to realize all of its innate Innigkeit, that “inward” quality that Mahler has expressed so well. Here, perhaps, Nagano is at fault, because there’s no gainsaying the sensitivity of Gerhaher’s singing. However, the climax of Um Mitternacht is very well done, the harp and piano nicely present and the whole ensemble ideally balanced against the voice to let Gerhaher sing at full volume without screaming—and it’s especially good to hear these songs sung by a baritone.
Under ideal studio conditions this disc could have been truly special—no audience noise, and perhaps the performers would have had a chance to reconsider those controversial tempos. As it is, this is still very good, and a worthwhile acquisition for connoisseurs of characterful Lieder singing.
