This is the best Boulez recording in quite a while. He offers the canonic 12 Wunderhorn songs, meaning no Urlicht and no Das himmlische Leben in the original orchestration before it became the finale of the Fourth Symphony. You won’t miss them. None of the songs are done as duets, and you won’t be bothered by that either. The singing is exceptional: Magdalena Kozená combines a sweet timbre with plenty of personality and attention to the words; Christian Gerhaher’s light, somewhat grainy baritone may not be to all tastes, but his unfailing musicality and his gusto (singing but never shouting) in the big “military” songs carries the day.
Boulez conducts marvelously. There are a couple of points, in Trost im Unglück and Lob des hohen Verstandes, where he may not quite capture the music’s humor, but elsewhere there’s nothing to carp about; he’s relaxed and obviously enjoying himself. The daringly slow tempo in Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht? makes you wonder how Kozená will ever be able to manage her “yodel of death” at the end, but Boulez picks up the tempo just enough to make it possible. The result is delectable. And of course, wherever the music turns dark or march-like, Boulez excels.
The orchestra plays magnificently, and the last song, Der Tamboursg’sell, perfectly sets up the Adagio of the Tenth. Boulez’s flowing tempo sounds just about perfect here, and the climax is absolutely shattering in its power and clarity. The live engineering captures the soloists and orchestra in good balance while minimizing audience and performance noise very effectively. There are several excellent recordings of the Wunderhorn songs, but if you like this coupling–which offers excellent value for money–or are collecting Boulez’s Mahler, then don’t hesitate for a minute. [10/25/2010]
