Dave's 6/9 review of MTT/SFSO "DLvdE"

[barry guerrero]

Didn't I say that Hampson would be the big drawback of this recording?    .    .    .  looks like I guessed right. Here goes:


GUSTAV MAHLER
Das Lied von der Erde
Stuart Skelton (tenor); Thomas Hampson (baritone)

San Francisco Symphony

Michael Tilson Thomas

San Francisco Symphony- 821936-0019-2(CD)
Reference Recording - Haitink (Philips); with Baritone: Kletzki (EMI); Bernstein (Decca)

    rating: 6 (performance)/9 (sound)

    This performance has two big assets and one huge liability. The assets are Stuart Skelton's really heroic performance of the tenor part, and Michael Tilson Thomas' excellent conducting of a supremely responsive San Francisco Symphony. First, Skelton: here is a tenor who truly has the heft for the part. In the opening song he cuts through the orchestra with just the right defiant tone. True, his voice isn't perfectly flexible--those little melodic turns in the vocal line tend to be glossed over; but whether here, in the delicate imagery of "Of Youth", or in the tipsy abandon of "The Drunkard in Spring", Skelton must be acknowledged as one of the better tenors to take the part, at least recently.

    MTT's Mahler sometimes suffers from mannered phrasing, but here he proves himself supremely sensitive to his singers, and well able to project the subtleties of Mahler's orchestration. One example will suffice: listen to the wailing woodwind at the climax of Der Abschied's central interlude--this is the real Mahlerian deal (though why so little tam-tam at its climax?). The orchestra's solo wind players, flute and oboe particularly, give exquisite accounts of their parts. There is nothing in the response of the orchestra that falls below world-class quality, and the sonics are very good in all formats (with one exception) considering the recording's live provenance.

    So what's the problem? I can sum it up in two words: Thomas Hampson. His participation really begs the question of whether Thomas, as the man in charge, exercised sensible judgment. Hampson recorded Das Lied several years ago with Simon Rattle; he was that performance's big liability as well. Wasn't MTT listening? Hampson's dry timbre was bad enough then, and it's gotten worse. He lacks the range for the part at both ends of the scale, resorting to an unappealing falsetto in "The Lonely Man in Autumn" and giving up singing entirely in the "horseback" interlude in "Of Beauty". Granted, Fischer-Dieskau shouted too, particularly in his recording with Bernstein, but his approach is so much more attractive everywhere else. Hampson's diction is also strange, particularly on the vowel "e" (as in "ewig") often to the point of distraction.

    Worst of all, in the concluding apotheosis of "Der Abschied", which Mahler asks to be played and sung triple piano, Hampson comes blasting in with all the subtlety of Ethel Merman belting out "Everything's Coming Up Roses". Despite the fact that Mahler himself sanctioned performances with a baritone instead of the more usual alto, performances like Hampson's really do demonstrate that the music works better with a female soloist. The mezzo/alto range seems to fit the focal tessitura better, and rides the accompaniments more clearly. But whether you agree with me or not on this point, you surely will dislike Hampson's contribution to this otherwise fine performance, one that makes it impossible to recommend this release with anything other than very qualified enthusiasm.

    --David Hurwitz

[Leo K]

I've liked Hampson in Ives, but I didn't really warm up to his disk of Wunderhorn songs with Geoffrey Parsons nor his Kindentotenlieder with Lenny...

I'm curious about hearing the SACD sonics on this disk though (I like this orchestra), so I may give it a try.

--Todd

[John Kim]

It's too bad Hampson nearly ruined the recording.

I really wished to purchase this one having enjoyed MTT's recent M2nd and M9th recordings.

John,

[sperlsco]

Well, I've listened to this several times through and I really WANT to like it more than I do.  In fact, I rarely give a performance so many repeat listenings if I am not instantly taken with it.  I think that I like Hampson a bit more than DH, but I liked him better in the Rattle recording where he sang with a much better feel for the music (Note: I really like the Rattle recording).  I agree that Skelton does an exceptional job singing the Drunkard in Spring and is fine in Of Youth.  The first Drinking Song is a mixed bag though; he has parts where his singing is rather constrained. 

I also have mixed feelings about the SFSO.  In Der Abschied, there is an early flute solo that sounds less muscial than in other performances.  I am also very disappointed in the Tam-Tam overall.  At the main climax to the funeral march, the tuba is very impressive, but at the expense of ANY tam-tam sound.  I also felt a little disappointed in the mandolin, but went back and listened to Haitink, Kubelik, and Rattle and couldn't find much in those performances either -- so why do I remember a forward sounding mandolin in the spot before the "ewigs" (I know it also appears in Of Beauty)? 

I agree that MTT conducts in a straight-forward fashion and without some of the affectations found in his other performances (although such things worked particularly well in M9 IMO).  The horseback interlude in Of Beauty is particularly impressive, but then the timpani becomes too restrained half-way through this section. 

All in all, I am glad to have this version, but it is a bit of a letdown.  I have not had an opportunity to listen in SACD yet -- hopefully this weekend. 

[Dave H]

Scott:

FYI, there is no tube in Der Abschied--those are "pedal tones" in the trombones. And I agree--the tam-tam really IS a letdown, isn't it? Kind of makes you wonder how anyone can be so insensitive to color. I think you're right about Hampson being better in the Rattle--he was in fresher voice then, for sure, though I think the SFSO really does outplay the CBSO. It is one of Rattle's better efforts in Mahler, though. I'm always impressed by how well people in this group really LISTEN! How refreshing!

Dave H