Martin: There's a full Mahler discography at
http://gustavmahler.net/us.html. I have several recordings of _Das Lied von
der Erde_, my favorite being the Walter/Ferrier/Patzak of 1952, despite the
funky sound and that I'm not crazy about Patzak. But I notice that there's
a Walter/Ferrier/Svanholm from 1948. I don't know if it's available on CD.
In any case, Ferrier's performance is heartbreakingly beautiful--it's what
I hear in my mind when I think of the score.
There's a fair amount of Ferrier Mahler performances on CD. I'm listening
at the moment to her performance with Walter of "Ich bin der Welt abhanden
gekommen," which in some moods seems quite enough to justify human life on
earth, despite the mess we've made of it.
Mark
At 01:59 PM 10/26/2001 -0400, Frederick Pollack wrote:
>Martin J. Walker wrote:
>>
>> Frederick, I'm still in the process of reading your long & engrossing poem,
>> an original verse narrative, (apocalyptic pastoral?), but a first looking
>> over has produced this:
>> <The Schwarzkopf/Böhm Lied von der Erde>
>> This is impossible: S. had a soprano, not an alto voice & could never have
>> negotiated the low tessitura. Böhm certainly never recorded _Das Lied_;
>> though I'm not prepared to swear he never conducted it I find it unlikely.
>> He avoided Mahler to my knowledge, perhaps to do with guilt over his Nazi
>> party membership, conscious or unconscious, if not with anti-Jewish
feeling.
>> Is this a sign that the whole poem takes place in some alternative
universe?
>> Best, Martin
>
>Truth to tell, I didn't know S couldn't sing that range. I was pretty
>sure she and Boehm had never recorded it; I love his Bruckner and
>thought, why not? Am inclined to keep him - poetic justice - but if you
>could suggest a likely famous alto - likely, that is, in an alternate
>world - I'd be grateful. Two syllables if possible.
>
>"Apocalyptic pastoral" is good. My basic genre. Thanks again.
>
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