Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with Kathleen Ferrier, Julius Patzak and Bruno Walter

One of the undoubted classics of the post-War Decca catalogue was Bruno Walter’s 1952 Vienna recording of Mahler’s song symphony Das Lied von der Erde. The contralto soloist was Kathleen Ferrier, already ill with cancer, who was to die, aged 41, the following year. Alec Robertson was the reviewer in October 1952...

MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde. Three Rückert Songs.

Kathleen Ferrier (contralto) Julius Patzak (tenor) Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Bruno Walter

Decca LXT2721-2 (12 in., 79s.).

It will be remembered that the Columbia recording of Das Lied von der Erde, with Kerstin Thorborg and Charles Kullmann, and Bruno Walter conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, was made at an actual performance in Vienna on May 24, 1936 and suffered somewhat from the prevailing conditions. It is, nevertheless, a recording one has cherished: but now the greatly improved methods of recording and the avoidance of the many breaks in the music make it difficult for one to listen to it patiently after hearing the present one: and there seems little point in making comparisons.

It must, however, be said that Kathleen Ferrier's singing is even more beautiful than that of Kerstin Thorborg and that her rhythmic sense is much superior. It was complained that Julius Patzak could hardly be heard in the Edinburgh Festival performance this summer: but however that may have been, the placing of the microphone sees to it that we get his every note in this recording so that we are able to hear what a fine and sensitive performance he gives; a remarkable one, in this taxing part, for a singer no longer young. Bruno Walter's deep understanding of Mahler is given every chance to show itself in this carefully balanced recording with its sense of space: and one can appreciate to the full Mahler's wonderful handling of his large orchestra, in its most delicate as well as in its most strenuous moments. The charming chinoiserie of Youth is beautifully caught: the glittering oriental march in Beauty, and the brooding sorrow of the last song, Farewell, with its tragic funeral march and its exquisite lyrical passages (which Kathleen Ferrier makes almost intolerably moving) are very memorable. One's critical sense, however, has to note that Miss Ferrier is placed rather too close to the microphone, and thus one is more aware than would otherwise have been the case of a certain sense of strain in one awkward passage in the last great emotional outburst. She recovers at once and sings the last words “blauen Licht die Fernen” with a superb legato and beautifully manages the toneless repetitions of “ewig” at the end. It is a pity that the celesta is not clearly heard enough on these last pages, one gets some but not all the notes of the arpeggios: the triangle also, is elusive at the start of Youth. I can only briefly allude to two other outstanding things in this recording, the melancholy beauty of The Solitary in Autumn, in which Kathleen Ferrier excels, and Patzak's singing at the moment when the bird calls to The Drunkard in Spring.

Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen is far and away the best of the three songs to poems by Rückert (a poet set by Schubert, Schumann and Brahms and by Mahler, again, in Kindertotenlieder) on the reverse. The music, reminiscent of the Adagietto in the composer's Fifth Symphony, is beautifully orchestrated and Kathleen Ferrier's singing is surpassingly lovely and tender. The middle song, Ich atmet einen linden Duft, has a charmingly devised accompaniment, but is not otherwise remarkable: and the last one, Um Mitternacht, is scored without strings: the wood-wind used include an oboe d'amore and a double bassoon, the brass, trombones and bass tuba.

This scoring was dictated perhaps by the grandiose hymn-like ending, which is undeniably effective and in which Kathleen Ferrier pours forth glorious tone. The recording of all three songs is extremely good.

The German words of all these songs, with English translations, can be had from Decca for sixpence and I urge all purchasers of this disc to take advantage of this praiseworthy publication. AR

[This recording is currently available on a mid-price CD from Decca – 466 576-2DM]