Phils 2: Mendelssohn Hensel, Mahler

Mendelssohn Hensel: Job (Hiob)
There are no recordings of this work.

Mahler: Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection”
Ileana Cotrubas, soprano; Christa Ludwig, alto; Vienna State Opera Chorus; Zubin Mehta, Vienna Philharmonic
Decca
Christine Schaefer, soprano; Michelle DeYoung, mezzo; Vienna Singverein Chorus; Pierre Boulez, Vienna Philharmonic
Deutsche Grammophon

Mehta’s recording is a complete experience. The odd-numbered movements are deeply dramatic, the second and fourth comforting and serene. Changing tempos inter-relate superbly, and the work simply flows from beginning to end. And I too “would rather be in heaven” with Christa Ludwig any day—her “Primal Light” movement is utterly moving. The engineering is superb. However, Mehta always draws out a primary line of music rather than illuminating Mahler’s multiple levels of activity, but why quibble.

Boulez, on the other hand, makes you “taste ‘em again for the first time.” Details are so clear he makes you listen to two and three musical lines simultaneously, and the orchestral colors are brighter than a bird sanctuary in spring. While scrupulously attending to every marking in the score, he makes the first, second, and fifth movements flow in one arc from beginning to end. The astounding engineering has clarity, warmth, and depth; even with its tremendous dynamic range, you can set the volume and never touch it again. Two problems: in the third movement, Boulez is indifferent, pressing ahead with an unyielding metronomic tempo (not what Mahler wrote), and DeYoung’s portentous, wobbly vibrato ruins the delicate fourth movement (Schaefer is divine in the fifth). The rest is a revelation.

WebTips: Mehta’s is his 1975 Vienna Philharmonic recording (he’s made others), re-released at mid-price on a single Decca’s “Legends” CD, the most economical pressing.