'The arrangement is scored for a string quintet consisting of a first and second violin, viola, cello and contrabass; flute, oboe, bassoon and two clarinets; trumpet and two French horns; piano, accordion and two percussion. The accordion is used sparingly to add presence to brass and woodwind ensemble passages, and the piano substitutes for harp and fills out the orchestral tutti.
The technical demands on the musicians are perhaps greater in a small ensemble than a 100-piece orchestra: because every note stands out individually—there's literally no place to hide—intonation, bowing and attack must be perfect or the complex patterns of multiple intersecting lines will degenerate into cacophony. At the same time, the undercurrents of humor and pathos and the impending sense of the composer's own mortality should be presented without undue exaggeration or cliché. To their credit, the musicians of ensemble mini, who were recruited especially for this project, play with coherence and emotional depth. First violinist Helena Maddox Berg digs into the rustic Ländler with an ear to the folk fiddle tradition, and plays lovely cantabile lines in the adagio passages. Trumpeter Noémi Makkos performs the solo in the middle of the Rondo-Burleske (following the cymbal crash) with delicacy and purity of tone.
The liner notes describe the recording as a live performance but there is no audience present. The venue (unnamed in the liner notes) has plenty of 'warm hall' resonance, which allows the compact scale of the ensemble to develop a fuller sound than would be possible in a smaller acoustic. The instrumental seating, as heard in stereo: violins left, viola center, cello and bass right, all somewhat forward; piano left-center, accordion center; flute and oboe center-left, clarinets center, bassoon center-right; trumpet center, French horns center-right, set farther back; percussion center and right, set farthest back.'From:
http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/10020Not my favourite work by Mahler, but I really like how the outer movements sound in this...
Topic: Chamber version of M9 SACD (Read 2859 times)