Symphony no. 4

"Enter François-Xavier Roth, whose Mahler has surprised and delighted me at every turn. The emerging traversal, shared between the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln and his period-instrument band, Les Siècles, represents a genuine, hugely rewarding reappraisal of these remarkable symphonies ... In many ways, the Fourth is a perfect vehicle for this supremely talented team ... As for Roth's soprano, Sabine Devieilhe, her clear, unforced delivery is a perfect complement to the naturalness and spontaneity of Les Siècles' playing. What an unexpected treat! An intriguing fin-de-siècle Fourth; a must-hear for Mahlerians and Roth fans alike".

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"Editor's choice - August 2022: Roth's Mahler Four makes you sit up and listen with fresh ears from the very first notes of the symphony, as the unusually stark, plaintive timbre of the flutes gives a foretaste of the different colours which period instruments can bring to this music: transparency and clarity are the order of the day here, revealing all manner of inner detail which had hitherto passed me by. Perhaps not everyone will warm to the almost vibrato-free string sound in places, but I found its spare, astringent beauty a refreshing contrast to the fuller-fat recordings in my collection".

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"Perhaps in time I'll become more attuned to François-Xavier Roth's energetic way with the first movement. But even if I don't, this is still a compelling, provocative and stimulating account of Mahler's Fourth to which I'm certain I shall return in the future. The attractions of hearing Mahler's music played on instruments of his time are manifold and it seems to me that Roth and his colleagues here offer many insights into the score ... This is a thought-provoking rendition of the Fourth which all Mahlerians should hear".

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"Haitink får mange finheder frem i klang og temposkift. Der findes næppe en mere følsom førstesats i rubato-spillet, af balanceringen af de skiftende tempi. Igen en varm anbefaling".

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"This latest recording from Bernard Haitink with the Royal Concertgebouw takes its place with modern recordings that I'm delighted to add to my collection ... The Philips recording os of a standard to do justice to the performance".

"In terms of sheer originality of conception, Stenz's record is an extraordinary achievement: if you want a Mahler Fourth to set alongside established favourites, then this is one to take very seriously indeed".

"This is by far one of the most memorable and spring-cleaned Mahler performances of recent or indeed any time".

"Vurdering: Editor's choice" - "Miah Persson is ideally cast and as she evokes Saint Martha it's as if we're transported to a small village church ... This is just one of countless imaginative touches on an exceptional hybrid SACD which must surely be an Award candidate in 2009".

"Editor's choice: Adam Fischer launched his Dusseldorf Mahler cycle with an accomplished and individual account of the nighthawkish Seventh Symphony ... This Fourth is even better. Its Wunderhorn playfulness offsets a knowing old-world charm where phrases turn on a sixpence and all manner of characterful nuance lifts it out of the commonplace. I love that all the Mahlerian exaggerations and heightened contrasts are in almost wilful defiance of the finesse of the reading ... I eagerly anticipate the rest of this Mahler cycle".

"Live-indspilninger, idéen er god: Det handler om at indfange energien og spændingen fra koncerter og pakke dem ind i en lyd umulig at skelne fra studieindspilninger. Det sker også her, hvor maestro Gergiev uden at tøve erstatter Mahlers solbeskinnede idyl med rendyrket ængstelse".

"Even when the dark smouldering Russian intensity if held in check, transmuted into the particular, hard-edged sonotiry he elicits from an expert LSO, the lack of airy Viennese irony remains a problem ... Sound quality is impressive given the dryness of the venue".

"This new recording of the Fourth Symphony continues the erratic trend. It's as if Gergiev sets off at an overly cautious speed, sligh bells sluggishly suggesting that this is going to be a icily precarious journey ... Collectors of Gergiev's cycle will already know, I suspect, that his Mahler can be an unpredictable ride. Listeners prepared for the journey should strap themselves into their seatbelts now".

"It's the subtler aspects, the perfect matching of instrumental entries and the sensual seamlessness of it all, which remain in the memory ... Recommended".

"In the finale Sunhae Im is very pleasing and she does well with quicker tempos, even if she is left breathless ... Overall, this is a vivid performance ... but with little chracterization to support such projections".

"Recording of the month - Editor's choice: I absolutely adored this performance. No equivocation. Hearing the music as Mahler might have heard it - and indeed imagined it - both in the very particular sound of period instruments and the extraordinary impact that has on phrasing and expression makes it sound more radical in ways that the supersonic amplitude of today's orchestras tends to obscure ... What registers immediately in Roth's reading - and the deliciously honest playing of his band Les Siècles - is an open-faced, playful nature ... So much has been said and written about the choice of a song - 'Das himmliche Leben' - as the finale of this symphony ... Sabine Devieilhe sings it quite gorgeously with a bell-like clarity and directness ... like so much that makes this performance special".

"For hvert stykke, som Les Siècles opfører eller indspiller fremskaffer musikerne instrumenter fra den tid og det sted, hvor værket er blevet skabt ... Ud over udfordringer med instrumenterne er der også spørgsmålet om, hvordan de skal spilles på. Hvordan var spillestilen for 120 år siden. Resultatet kan høres på det nye album, hvor sangsolisten er den franske sopran Sabine Devieilhe. Hvis du er fan af Mahlers mest intime symfoni, kan du godt forberede dig på at høre en meget anderledes version".

"Editor's choice: A Mahler Fourth as insightful and as individual as we have come to expect from this source ... Texturally, harmonically and in terms of characterisation (never over-egged), Jurowski achieves a wondrous clarity and transparency ... Indeed, Jurowski's way with all Mahler's portamento has an unaffected spontaneity about it. All credit to the London Philharmonic strings ... Heavenly life finds approval in the bright and vibrant sound of soprano Sofia Fomina, whose rapid vibrato and lively awareness of the text's high-jinks all ring true".

"Vurdering: IRR outstanding" - "Enhanced by unexpectedly radiant sound from the usually unyielding Queen Elizabeth Hall, this is quite literally a dream come true and one of the best memorials to a great conductor's art".

"Odd imperfections aside, i would still opt for Maazel's Loondon Mahler over its earlier Viennese counterpart".