Search - Gustav Mahler, Bernard Haitink, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra :: Mahler: Symphony No. 4 [Hybrid SACD]

Best Sung, Wonderfully Played, Mahler Fourth

J. F. Laurson | Washington, DC United States | 12/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One Mahler recording issued in 2008 truly stands out among the lot - and that's the Concertgebouw's performance of the Fourth Symphony with Bernard Haitink conducting and Christine Schäfer taking the soprano part. A Fourth Symphony can easily be undone by an inappropriate soprano (Gielen/Whittlesey, Abbado/Fleming), but it can't be `made' by a great singer. Well, maybe Schäfer could actually, because her soprano is simply perfect for "Das himmlische Leben". Clarity and beauty of tone are a given with her, but the innocence, the angelic ring that she believably exudes is exactly what the symphony (and Mahler) asks for. In theory a treble might be better, still, but put into practice it simply doesn't work.



Fortunately Schäfer doesn't have to rescue anything here, she's simply the crowning glory of what is a superb performance, already. Haitink is generally short on cutting and acerbic tones in Mahler, and long on beauty. So here. The Fourth Symphony benefits from beauty and suffers not from the absence of tortuous and biting sounds, as for example the Sixth would. Generous, rich, and yet transparent, there is plenty of that beauty to go around here. The RCO plays with near-perfection (this is a true live recording, not patched from several performances), its usual gorgeousness and grandeur of sound, which is caught perfectly by the recording engineers. This sumptuous performance has now replaced my long-held top choice for the Fourth, which had been Inbal's recording with Helen Donath (Denon/Brilliant)."

A seasoned reading that is very beautiful on all counts

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In concert Haitink's Mahler succeeds through exemplary balances and refined phrasing, qualities that can be flattened out in recordings. Some critics don't give him the benefit of the doubt, finding his Mahler too undernourished. This new Fourth from a live Concertgebouw concert is elegantly played and ultra-civilized, but that's not code for boring. Many listeners may appreciate Haitink's refusal to fuss over every detail of the score -- you will notice immediately that the first movement proceeds at a steady pulse unless a sizable ritard is called for. This plainness puts Haitink at a far remove from Bernstein, Levine, and Abbado, who favor much more freedom of expression.



For me, the low-key approach seems somewhat outdated. We expect conductors to explore the rich drama and color of Mahler's idiom rather than play it straight. With Haitink, the devil's fiddle is quite gentlemanly in the second movement, for example, which I don't think the composer intended. The Adagio is played exquisitely by the Concertgebouw's incomparable strings; a moderate timing of 20 min. allows the music to flow without undue haste or tardiness. The climactic opening of the gates of heaven errs on the mild side. At 9:38 the finale is also moderate. Christine Schafer's voice has darkened considerably with age, and she makes for a rather mature child, not to mention that not all the notes are in place with steady assurance. I'd call her an average soloist in a field that includes the delightful Barbara Bonney, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Kiri Te Kanawa.



I've noted these reservations so that the prospective buyer will have some idea of the contours of Haitink's interpretation. Yet overall this is a masterfully handled reading, and when you add the orchestra's affectionate, glowing playing and RCO's usual fine sound, even an old-fashioned reading can turn out to be beautiful on all counts."