Wow, what a gorgeous sounding recording! The unaffected naturalness of the old Abravanel recording is everywhere evident here; only this Zinman Mahler 4th has a far bigger dynamic range, and even more "air" around the instruments. Unfortunately, I'm dinging this down to four stars because of the less than comfortable sounding contribution from soprano Luna Orgonasova.
Certainly, Orgonasova doesn't come anywhere close to completely spoiling this, the way that Renee Fleming nearly did for Abbado's Berlin remake of Mahler 4 (go figure! - especially since she sounded so great in the Berg songs). But what's truly frustrating, is that Orgonasova sounds perfectly relaxed and sweet-toned during the soft singing that makes up the bulk of Mahler's final stanza. She executes that descending portamento on "Sanct Ursula dazu lacht" just beautifully, for example; but then, awkwardly ratchets the tension back up for "Cecilia mit ihren Verwandten sind treffliche Hoffmusikanten". What's also fortunate, though, is that she's not recorded real upfront. That helps!
I don't mean to dwell too much on this point; Orgonasova would do perfectly fine on one of the three soprano parts from Mahler's 8th symphony (and maybe she'll show up on Zinman's 8th). But for the 4th, a far less operatic sounding singer is required - someone who can come closer to a youngish boy, such as Camilla Tilling (Ben. Zander on Telarc) or Barbara Bonney (Chailly on Decca). But for the rest of the symphony, hardly a complaint should be mustered by anyone.
I would have preferred that the climax to the development passage of the first movement be more menacing sounding, as it is on Chailly's very fine recording of the 4th (it sounds more like the start of the 5th symphony!). But that incredible climax to the slow movement - the one that was used so effectively in the movie "El Norte" - may be the best that it's ever sounded on any recording, ever! - that's truly saying something. The scherzo possess the requisite tension and "air of menace" that should be there too. In total, for the first three movements, one could hardly do better. The orchestral accompaniment in the fourth movement is perfectly fine as well.
So,if you already own a Mahler 4th with a soprano that you really like, I don't see any need to add this one to your arsenal. But for anyone who wants to keep collecting the so-far/so-good Zinman cycle - perhaps the modern day equivalent of the old Kubelik cycle - there's no reason not to add this one along. I certainly have no regrets about picking it up: I love the sound and the orchestral execution, especially at the slow movement's climax.
Topic: B.G.'s four-star Amazon review of Zinman M4 (RCA) (Read 8548 times)