Scheduled for release at the end of August, this is a recording conducted by Sir Simon Rattle of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). The featured singers are Magdalena Kožená and Stuart Skelton.
The work is subtitled ‘A symphony for tenor, alto (or baritone), voice and orchestra’. It examines the border between two different genres: the Lied, in its extended form as a song cycle, and the symphony.
The entire work is spanned by a tight arc, culminating – in accordance with the principle of intensification – in a huge final movement lasting as long as all the others together, and entitled Der Abschied (The Farewell). Here, Mahler is continuing the genre of the ‘Finale Symphony’, and the brightening of C minor to C major is even reminiscent of his usual elevation of his music to a divine status. In this symphony, as in his others, Mahler wanted to ‘create a world using all existing technical means’.
Here is sir Simon Rattle, leading the Berlin Philharmonic:
