Markus Stenz and his team present the extended selection of Wunderhorn songs, including “Urlicht” (as Bernstein first did in his marvelous recording with Ludwig/Berry) and “Das himmlische Leben” (aka the finale of the Fourth Symphony, here in its original slightly different scoring). Generally speaking, the results are outstanding. Christiane Oelze and Michael Volle have fresh, young voices and understand the need to characterize the songs without adopting the kind of self-conscious folksiness heard from, say, Schwarzkopf and Fischer-Dieskau. They sing three numbers–“Trost im Unglück”, “Lied des Verfolgten im Turm”, and “Verlor’ne Müh”–as duets, providing a welcome contrast, and the entire program is arranged very intelligently, concluding with “Das irdische Leben” followed by “Das himmlische Leben”. Stenz conducts with plenty of gusto in the military songs, and with the same unaffected charm as his singers in the more “gemütlich” pieces.
I do have one reservation, though, and for some listeners it may be a serious one. Bar 51 is missing from “Revelge”. Just to be certain, I cross-checked several versions of the score, including the latest Critical Edition from the International Gustav Mahler Gesellschaft, Wien (you never know what those dodos might be up to), and sure enough, that one bar wound up on the editing room floor. It’s a purely orchestral moment immediately preceding the verse “Ach Bruder, ihr geht ja mir vorüber”. Someone should find it and put it back. However, if you’re not bothered by this anomaly (and the edit is seamless), then you may want to hear this anyway. [9/13/2010]
