Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Philharmonia Orchestra & Otto Klemperer - Mahler: Symphony No. 4 (Remastered) (2020) [24/96]

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Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Philharmonia Orchestra & Otto Klemperer - Mahler: Symphony No. 4 (Remastered) (2020) [24/96]

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"The five songs that follow the performance of the Fourth Symphony (two from Des Knaben Wunderhorn and three from the Rückert-Lieder) date from the time of the Klemperer/Ludwig Das Lied von der Erde, and rank among the finest examples of Mahler singing ever recorded. Christa Ludwig's "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen"–the most beautiful song in the world?–is every bit as fine as Janet Baker's more celebrated version on the same label, and Otto Klemperer's unsentimental conducting style suits the music's "innigkeit" ("inwardness") better than Barbirolli's more affectionate approach.

The Symphony No. 4, another highly successful performance, sports some superb playing by the Philharmonia, and is further noteworthy for its measured (but rock-solid) opening and its surprisingly quick third movement Adagio. On the whole, it's a highly personal and very effective interpretation. One minor drawback is Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's cutesy-pooh vocal noodling in the song-finale, but this was the price that Klemperer paid for an EMI career courtesy of Walter Legge (a.k.a. Mr. Schwarzkopf). This finale is, in any case, a child's vision of heaven, and Schwarzkopf's bratty approach does remind us that not all kids are angels."