Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde - Jerusalem, Norman, Levine (1998)


Gustav Mahler
"Das Lied von der Erde"
Siegfried Jerusalem
Jessye Norman
Berliner Philharmoniker
James Levine
DGG 439 948-2

FLACs & Covers


"Die liebe Erde allüberall
blüht auf im Lenz und grünt
Aufs neu! Allüberall und ewig
blauen licht die Fernen!
Ewig... ewig...".


... what could we add to those last lines? Mahler's sublime vocal farewell to life (the symphonic only being of course His 9th) is here presented in a rare DG output, generally thought to be one of the best in our libraries. How many "Lied von der Erde" would I love to share? More than a few... I'll make sure the Giulini BP (and WP for Orfeo), the old Davis (Vickers & Norman), the Maazel in Munich and a very rare one in Venice I've got (with singers Richard Lewis and Kerstine Meyer), the Oue Minnesota and the Salonen, the Sinopoli of course will find some day pride of place on these friendly pages.

But now it's Jimmy Levine and the Berlin Philharmonic, with our beloved Siegfried Jerusalem's most inspired singing, and Jessye Norman, adding her glorious vocal art to those peonies redolent, wistful otherworldly chant of Love which "Der Abschied" is.

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