I like the Kaufmann/Nott/VPO (Sony) "DLvdE"

[barryguerrero]

The Vienna Phil. plays fabulously, and they're actually very well recorded (why did DG screw-up so many of their recordings in the past?). Nott does a good, no nonsense job of it. Kaufmann sings "der Abschied" with reserve, which is exactly what the score says to do. In contrast to that, he does his best Wunderlich imitation in the first and fifth movements. Overall, I rather like it. I wouldn't want to hear it done this way real often, but I think Kaufmann did just fine. I consider it an acceptable addition to my greatly culled collection. In short, it's a keeper.

Frankly, I would like to see Nott record more Mahler with the V.P.O. He did 7, 8 and 9 very well in Bamberg and those are the very ones the VPO could use good sounding studio recordings of (to replace the ultra-slow Maazel ones).

[justininsf]

kind of off topic here, but what is the story behind this font again?

[barryguerrero]

It looks the style of Egon Schiele to me. I'll do some research. If you mean the font, I think that comes from the Wiener Werkstaette, which was kind of an artist's cooperative.

[James Meckley]

I'm going to look into this, too. It's not one of the Wiener Werkstätte typefaces with which I'm familiar; it could be a custom design—the double bars on the 'A' and 'H' suggest that. Where is Sir Matthew Carter when you need him?

BTW, the background image is Gustav Klimt's 1902 painting Buchenwald I.

[James Meckley]

The typeface used on this CD cover is ITC RENNIE MACKINTOSH BOLD, created by Phill Grimshaw in 1996, and inspired by the creative output of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928), a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. So nothing directly to do with the Wiener Werkstätte, but certainly appropriately suggestive of that style and era.

[barryguerrero]

Thank you. It's beautiful and I'm actually keeping this release.

[Prospero]

Isn't this an explicitly non-Mahler version? The score is explicit on requiring two singers with two voices of contrasting timbre. Is that not essential to the structure and meaning of the work?

Is Mahler not the authority on this?

[barryguerrero]

In the Dover Edition score, there's a page for "Intstruments and Voices". On that page it says the following: "Tenor [Tenor-Stimme, Ten-St.]    .    .    Alto [Alt-Stimme, Alt-St.] or Bartione". It's not clear to me if they printed what Mahler wrote down, or that it's just the work of an editor. Regardless, this is exactly how it's notated on that page.

Mahler never heard a single note of this work, much less performed it. Obviously, I think that he would prefer that it be sung by two contrasting singers. However, I do think he would be flattered that somebody thought so highly of the work, that they would want to perform it all themselves. That's hardly an insult. Personally, I think Kaufmann has done a good of providing a contrasting style between the two groups of songs. He's done a good job of following the dynamics marked on the page as well.

Not to try to justify Kaufmann, but time and time again, Mahler chose singers who could deliver the text in a convincing style - while also accurately following the rhythms and dynamics on the page - to those who simply had a beautiful voice. The rest is up to our judgement as listeners.

I like this recording and I am keeping it. But that's more for the playing of the VPO and Sony's generally fine sonics (far better than DG in the Musikverein). But I'm also not really bothered by what Kaufmann has done here. In fact, I really prefer him to someone who over-sings the dynamics in "Der Abschied", which happens all the time. It is not an extended aria for Mezzo or Baritone, with the orchestra providing little more than accompaniment. If anything, it's the other way around. The orchestration and the dynamics on the page prove that point.

[James Meckley]

In the Dover Edition score, there's a page for "Instruments and Voices". On that page it says the following: "Tenor [Tenor-Stimme, Ten-St.]    .    .    Alto [Alt-Stimme, Alt-St.] or Baritone". It's not clear to me if they printed what Mahler wrote down, or that it's just the work of an editor. Regardless, this is exactly how it's notated on that page.

For the record—and to whatever degree it matters—the UE Critical Edition has that information on the title page directly under the title itself, and it reads:

"Eine symphonie für eine Tenor- und eine Alt- (oder Baritone-) Stimme und Orchester"

[barryguerrero]

Thanks, and I'd like bring up another point.

Many people seem to be upset by this recording. Personally, I think it's far less a travesty than Thomas Hampson's attempt to sing the entire "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" himself - a work for which Mahler employed several different types of voices when he performed it. Worse yet, Hampson distorts the truth in the program notes for his own benefit. Mahler never verbally expressed a preference for male voices (in general), nor do he ever say that he intended "DKW" to be sung entirely by one gender or the other. In fact, he never performed "DKW" in its entirety. Instead, he mixed and matched songs not only from "DKW", but from other song cycles as well - all within the same programs. The proof of this lies in Knud Martner's book, "Mahler's Concerts - an excellent and indispensable book. 

Mahler was never so dogmatic as to say that he preferred one type of voice or gender to another. He liked employing singers who best matched the material they were going to be singing - even within the same program.

[justininsf]

Thank you both Barry and James for that detective work.

What is the association with Mahler? 

The reason I asked it in the first place is because I've only seen that sort of font with Mahler covers, for example:

[justininsf]

And I found this very interesting link, the various fonts used on this page are from Mahler's time era.  Some look quite familiar, the third one down (Mahler Symphony no 1 pt 2) is a font used on many DG releases.  And of course that Rennie Mackintosh is further down the page.

http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2009/12/mahler-survey.html

[barryguerrero]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

[James Meckley]

What is the association with Mahler?

Justin,

I think you've answered your own question with your follow-up post: the various typefaces in the Ionarts article either come from Mahler's fin-de-siècle period or were designed to appear to have come from that era. I've also seen era-specific typefaces used with the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Alexander Zemlinsky.

Regarding Rennie Mackintosh, note that there are design differences among the various fonts within the Rennie Mackintosh typeface, e.g., Standard, Light, Bold, Italic, etc. The Ashkenazy Mahler 9 cover includes both Bold and Standard, while the "Gustav Mahler" printed below it is in Light.

[Prospero]

Here is a photograph in the link of the title page of a manuscript of DLvdE.

Mahler writes: Symphonie für eine Tenor und eine Altstimme und Orchester

https://www.gustav-mahler.eu/index.php/werken/98-das-lied-von-der-erde-1908/316-introduction

The baritone option may be on another manuscript or the piano reduction. In any case Mahler is very explicit about two voices of different timber.

The comment on Hampson and Des Knaben Wunderhorn has merit but does not refute Mahler's explicit handwritten title page to DLvdE. And who could argue that DLvdE is in a different category than the earlier collection. With all deference, the two voices are, in what we know of Mahler's view, essential to the structure and meaning of the work.