Vonk/St. Louis/Heideman M4 (Hedieman is fantastic!)

[barry guerrero]

Once again, Hans Vonk and the St. Louis Symphony surprise and surpass all of my expectations: this is a truly decent Mahler 4, with an outstanding vocal contribution from Esther Heideman. She has a fresh, innocent sounding voice - with no audible strain - yet doesn't sound the least bit affected, or as though she's making parody on the naivete of children. She's the real deal - the best I've heard in a long, long time. Michaele Kaune comes closest (Macal/Czech Phil./Exton). As for the rest of it, it's quite good.

The first movement is particularly good, where Hans Vonk, like Abbado, employs a lot of rubato and contrasting tempi. Woodwinds sound very forward, and the triangle - a part that's far more prominent than you might imagine - is audible throughout as well. The horns are excellent, although the SLSO trumpets are sometimes just a tad too bright and pointed sounding for my taste (pretty typical for American trumpet players, though). Still, this is a small complaint at best. How are the trombones, you ask?     .       .      .    fooled you! - there are no trombones in the 4th. The high strings are mostly very good, and the lower strings register throughout, but without sounding too heavy either. Good stuff.

The second movement is a tad slow from my taste, but everything in it is well characterized. I just happen to buy into Roger Norrington's argument that Mahler meant for the scherzo to be conducted one beat to the bar (instead of three beats to the bar). His scherzo makes a lot of sense to me. Anyway, the slow movement goes quite well too. Although, at the movement's climax, the famous "crash; boom" effect (cymbals/bass drum) is slightly undermined by a bass drum that sounds a bit too small, and is curiously underplayed. It really almost sounds more like timpani there. Again, this is a rather minor complaint.

All in all, this is quite good - another sleeper in this Vonk/SLSO series. I wouldn't rate it higher than the Macal/Czech Phil. M4, simply because Exton has provided such outstanding sound quality. Also, Kaune is nearly the equal of Heideman (and both are vastly superior to either of Vaclav Neumann's sopranos in M4). And like Hans Vonk, Macal treats the 4th as primarily a "neo-classical" work by Mahler; far more influenced by Bruno Walter than Klemperer or Mengelberg. But still, you could do far worse than making Hans Vonk your one and only recording of Mahler 4.

[Phaedrus]

Hi Barry,

I agree completely. Seems Vonk makes a maximum effort to show all possible details in the score, like Celibidache without the sloooooowwwwness.. Heideman is fabulous.

The recording sounds a bit thin, and I don't know whether it is due to the orchestra, the recording venue or the recording itself.

Best regards from Holland,

Phaedrus

[Don]

If it sounds thin it is probably the recording as these are live concerts. Powell Hall is an acoustic gem and I have never had issues hearing, even with the hearing loss that I have.

Vonk had a hard time in St Louis but not because of lack of conducting skills. It is his tenure that, to me, has made St Louis a tremendous Bruckner/Mahler orchestra.

[sbugala]

I very consciously held off on commenting on this release because as a St. Louis resident, I didn't want to look like a total stooge for my hometown orchestra.  But for me, if I did chuck my other M4s, which is doubtful, I could gladly live with this one. For me, things flow so nicely.  I like performances where despite me knowing what comes next, things surprise me.  There's a nice clarity, enabling winds to cut through, without drowning out the strings.  I don't know if it's Powell Hall's nice acoustic, microphone placement, Vonk's ear, or all the above, but the balance is superb.  There's lots of detail from the low winds I didn't notice before.  Things dance around from section to section.  It's fun to follow along to.  Nice climax to the third movement too, with powerful timpani.

I'm a poor judge of vocals, but I liked Heideman a lot.  She isn't cutsey poo, which annoys me in certain performances, but rather conveys a slightly older child's innocence , if that makes sense. 

This was Vonk's last concert as music director of the St. Louis Symphony.  At the time, it was hard to judge objectively because of Vonk's neurological condition. Were we judging him on the results, or his triumph vs. adversity? Plus, when I heard this concert live, I was dealing with a personal crisis that made it hard to focus on Mahler. To be honest, I was fearful it would be average when hearing it years later. It's nice to hear it was indeed a special concert.  And I hope others give it a try and report back. 

[Psanquin]

I am unearthing this topic, as only yesterday at last I listened to this recording. It is amazing how in so difficult circumstances Vonk managed to conduct such a personal but also convincing Fourth. But I am really delighted with the soprano, absolutely unknown to me.

Great to discover that she also has sparked the enthusiasm of such a connoisseur as Barry. She has the ideal qualities for this movement and the result is on the same league as the best singers of the part.

I would like to know about her career.

[James Meckley]

[Esther Heideman] has the ideal qualities for this movement and the result is on the same league as the best singers of the part.
I would like to know about her career.

http://www.estherheideman.com/
http://www.estherheideman.com/Esther_Heideman_Resume.pdf
http://www.estherheideman.com/Esther_Heideman_Bio.pdf

James

[Psanquin]

Thanks