A sleeper Das klagende Lied from... Cornelius Meister?

[erikwilson7]

Who? I thought the same thing. Simply put, this is one of the very best Das klagende Lieds out there that I've heard.

It's quick (60 mins), and boasts the same ORF Vienna Radio orchestra as Gielen's recent release. Meister has extremely fine soloists, and uses the 1899 revision for the later movements and adds back Waldmärchen, what most 3-movement versions do these days. The orchestra also plays with excellent musicality.

Gielen adds more character, but Meister's has the better soloists and much better sound quality (label is Capriccio, recording date 2016 live at the Vienna Konzerthaus).

To me, this replaces reference recordings of Chailly and Tilson Thomas. This Meister recording and the recent Gielen one are the two Das klagende Lieds to own, and funny that they're both with the same orchestra. This recording is refreshing, almost like hearing the work anew.

Here's a review from Ralph Moore: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2018/Aug/Mahler_klagende_C5316.htm

There is also a very fine review on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Das-Klagende-Lied-G-MAHLER/dp/B0741ZGZTN

[barryguerrero]

Thanks a lot. Now I'll have to add this too.   

[erikwilson7]

As per usual these days, I'd recommend giving it a sample on Spotify. I've listened to it a few times in the past couple of days and have been consistently impressed.

Meister takes the first movement at 26 minutes (!) but I think its pacing is as convincing as ever. Finally a Waldmärchen that doesn't drag on and on. Gielen does a very fine job with this too, clocking in around 27 mins.

[barryguerrero]

I'm just teasing you. I will check this out at Spotify, but probably won't buy a hard copy. I'm not crazy enough about "DKL" to own multiple versions. In fact, I really like the first version as recorded by Kent Nagano.

[erikwilson7]

Ah yes, Nagano’s! I like that one a lot too, and for some reason it’s hard to find.

I’ll add that to my list of DKL reference recordings too, just because it’s so unique; definitely a must-hear. Is there even another first version recording out there?

[erikwilson7]

Oh, and I understand. I’m sure very few people are in the market for another DKL. I’m sticking to Spotify for now for this recording too. I don’t need more than one good DKL in my CD collection, let’s be honest.