Truly a masterwork. I haven't had time to get familiar with all of Mahler's symphonies (in addition to this one, I know no. 2 well and I'm pretty familiar with the first two movements of no. 5, and I have listened through no. 9 a few times), but I'm quite sure this is one of his greatest works (one of the greatest pieces ever composed TBH).

Any thoughts on the symphony? What's your favourite recording? What do you think about the alto part being sung by a baritone?

Who’s Mahler? ... only kidding ... my favourite is Symphony 6.
It was interesting that Mahler looked for inspiration to Li Bai, the famous Tang dynasty wandering poet

“Four of the Chinese poems used by Mahler
("Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde", "Von der Jugend", "Von der Schönheit" and "Der Trunkene im Frühling") are by Li Bai, the famous Tang dynasty wandering poet.”

Wish the harp of Verbum mirabilis wouldn’t frig around without clothes ... perhaps we should call the piano “a harp in a box”?

Must pop down to my music shop and see if I can find a copy of Das Lied von der Erde ... see if I can pick up a tang of the East.

My thoughts are that this is (usually)(mostly) a piano forum. And that the occasional off-topic thread should be labeled as such, with the subject line beginning with "OT". What do you think about that?

You may be right, but I see many OT threads without "OT". This is still music-related, unlike for example the "yesterday's tragedy" thread, which is therefore labeled with the "OT".

Also many theads tend to go offtopic, and they don't get labeled "OT" because of that

Mahler was a pretty good pianist and composed a bit for the piano.

Beyond that, anyone who doesn't already know that "das Lied" is not a piano composition should know it.

Eat your peas...

I know 1 - 6 fairly well and much prefer 2 and 5 (the happiest of Mahler's symphonies). The last two movements of 5 are truly extraordinary for completely different reasons. The Adagietto is perhaps the most beautiful love song ever written and the last movement is a contrapuntal tour de force. The final movement of number 3 is pretty good too.

As for recordings, Mahler has a list of usual conductors that seem to do him well, Bernstein, Walter and Ormandy, but the lesser known Ben Zander does an extraordinary job with Mahler as well and usually includes a separate CD explaining much of what's going on.

Maybe OT, but the music seems to fit this wintry season somehow, even if the the text is sometimes talking about spring.

My favoured version is the DG Giulini/Fassbaender/Araiza/BPO one. Some people have quibbles about this recording, and some say the live version by the same line-up is better, but personally I like this one so much that I wouldn't change a thing.

As for two guys singing this - I don't even like to think about that, but I guess you should try everything at least once.

Steve, if someone insisted that I name Mahler's happiest symphony, I'd probably nominate the 4th. I love the 2nd and 5th too, though.

I agree completely about the Benjamin Zander/Philharmonia series of recordings, and the one he does for the 5th may be the best of a good bunch. I think Zander is more effective than Bernstein was at explaining the structure and elements of music to a general audience.

My only experience with Mahler - as a pianist - was accompanying a vocalist (alto) many years ago in a performance of the Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Death of Children). Obviously I was using a piano reduction of an orchestral score. Trying to make the piano sound like an orchestra was challenging to say the least - but what an amazing and powerful work. And somehow it seems a bit strange to be remembering it this week in particular.........

I have the piano/vocal score and play it frequently (not in performance, just for my own pleasure) if we want a link to the piano

One of my most beloved works. I first heard and loved the Ferrier/Patzak/Walter recording and it's still my favourite, I think. But I also love the Ludwig/Wunderlich/Klemperer. And as for a baritone singing the contralto part - no, not for me, although Fischer-Dieskau could convince me of anything.

ewig ... ewig ...

That is my benchmark. I don't really feel that it has ever been exceeded. (And IMO, I don't much care for a baritone replacing the mezzo, though some do.)

Das Lied is a work of many faces, it my favourite Mahler.

I have Kindertotenlieder in a Dover edition for vocalist and piano. (It also includes other Mahler cycles like Das Lied von der Erde). With just a bit of juggling, all these wonderful songs make great piano solos. I have just about worn out my copy playing them over and over. Kathleen Ferrier is my favorite soloist for Kindertotenlieder, accompanied by Bruno Walter. Walter is my favorite interpreter of the Mahler symphonies as well. Just thought I would recommend them to anyone unfamiliar with these performances. (Ferrier died tragically in 1952 of cancer. She was a unique and marvelous singer.)

Can't tell if this is the Walter version - BUT here's Ms. Ferrier in two selections from the Kindertotenlieder....

http://youtu.be/5N23uwhNdac
http://youtu.be/PMsXvuz3Voc

Walter conducted the premiere of das Lied, and both he and Klemperer were close to Mahler in Mahler's last years.

I read the German translation of the poems back when I was in college. I recall interpreting some of the lines differently than the way Mahler must have read them.

From Wikipedia.....

"The poignancy of the cycle is increased by the fact that four years after he wrote it, Mahler lost his daughter, Maria, aged four, to scarlet fever. He wrote to Guido Adler: 'I placed myself in the situation that a child of mine had died. When I really lost my daughter, I could not have written these songs any more.' "

I've played the piano/voice score as well, and it's gorgeous. I love Ludwig's Mahler interpretations.

A damn fine work, though I personally prefer the Ninth Symphony.

It has also been very lucky on record. The excellent Ormandy recording on Sony is often overlooked.

I don't mind the baritone option.

Mahler's piano version has been recorded by Katsaris (it's on Warner/Teldec).

I cannot prefer any of Mahler's symphonic works, in the sense that they are all very different from each other. They are all masterworks, with such a richness to them that you can spend a lifetime exploring them. Many people do, and some conductors cannot resist rerecording them at different times in their life. With the right orchestra, conductor, and vocalists (including the chorus), it does not matter which symphony is involved - you should go hear it.

For recordings, I like anything done by Solti, and most of Celibidache. I suggest you watch for Jaap van Zweden - he has the Mahler spirit, the brio and sense of propulsion that makes this music magical. Hear him live with a good symphony - he is extremely exciting.

my preferred recording: Paul Kletzki with DFD and Murray Dickie

Well, there IS a technicality that allows discussion of "Das Lied" here, since there is a chamber version in existence with PIANO and HARMONIUM assisting strings and winds. Pretty neat, all in all.

Yeah, I adore this piece. Also, the final Tenth, completed by Deryk Cooke. But there's not one damn piano in it, so forget I mentioned it.

You know, I don't think that's the version that the OP had in mind. And too, my point wasn't that it shouldn't be discussed, but simply that the polite thing to do here is to put an "OT" at the beginning of the subject line when wanting to discuss something not really related to the piano.

I was in a particularly cranky mood when I posted, I guess - I'm sorry about that.

I might add that while I used to adore Mahler, that adoration has turned into mere respect these days. All that hyper-emotional stuff has gotten old, and seems a bit cartoonish and kitschy to me now. It also feels manipulative in a way I don't much care for, even if it's highly effective - it's like Spielberg movies that way.

Interesting.

Funny.... I always think of this work around Xmas time because I first listened to it during the holiday season of 1975, when I was a junior in high school. It made a huge impression.

It was the final Bruno Walter recording, however - not the celebrated one with Ferrier - which introduced me to the work. Nowadays, I enjoy it for Walter's conducting and especially tenor Ernst Haefliger's contribution (mezzo Mildred Miller seems a bit removed from it all, unfortunately).

BTW, Ernst Haefliger was the father of pianist Andreas Haefliger.