Back
in 2006 I
reviewed
this recording when it was issued in Sony Classical’s
Great
Performances
series.
Now it’s the latest Bruno Walter recording to receive XR
re-mastering from Andrew Rose.
This was the last of three commercial recordings of
Das Lied
von
der Erde made by Bruno Walter. The earlier ones were in 1936
-
the first recording of the work – and the celebrated 1952
traversal, with Kathleen Ferrier memorably expressive. Walter had a
particular authority in this score for he conducted its première
in 1911. In my 2006 review I noted that, by the evidence of the
clock, Walter grew more expansive in the work over the years; his
1936 version, recorded live, took 57:02, the 1952 recording played
for 60:19 and this 1960 traversal adds another three minutes. This
trend towards longer performances is fairly typical of how Walter’s
timings for other Mahler scores developed over time. The 1960
recording sessions began three days after Walter conducted
Das
Lied for the last time in New York though in that concert
performance the tenor was not Ernst Haefliger but Richard Lewis.
It may be worth summarising the thoughts that I had in 2006 on this
recording. I felt it was a fine performance though lacking just a
little of the tautness and urgency of Walter’s earlier
accounts, in which number I also included a 1948 live account, also
with Ferrier, issued by the New York Philharmonic as part of a lavish
boxed set of Mahler broadcast performances from 1948 to 1982
(
review).
I described Haefliger as sensitive, though not as heroic in timbre as
some tenors I’ve heard. I was equivocal about Mildred Miller: I
thought that she sang very well but that she sounded somewhat cool or
detached. As for Walter’s conducting, I acknowledged the deep
understanding in his conducting but felt that his earlier readings
were a bit tauter. It’s been interesting to revisit the
recording in this new transfer and to see if I still stand by those
earlier judgements.
I did a straight A/B comparison, listening to each movement in turn
and making no adjustments whatsoever to the controls on my system. In
the case of ‘Der Abschied’ I divided the song into three
quite arbitrary sections, listening to each section in both
transfers. In each case I listened to the Sony transfer first.
To be honest, once I’d listened to the first song, ‘Das
Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde’ in both versions I’d
largely made up my mind. The Sony transfer is quite good but the
Pristine is significantly better. The overall aural image is sharper;
the sound is brighter, fuller and has greater impact. There’s
also more space around the sound; one has a sense of the natural
resonance of the hall.
The chief beneficiary of the sonic improvement is Ernst Haefliger
whose voice comes across as rounder and fuller. There’s also
more room around his voice. As for the orchestra, that too sounds
more immediate and ‘present’. In this opening song I
noted a greater degree of richness to the horn tone. At around 4:20,
at the start of the orchestral passage that leads up to ‘Das
Firmament blaut ewig’, the sound of the violin melody is more
winning than in the Sony transfer; there’s more sheen. In my
first review I expressed disappointment at a lack of intensity in the
passage beginning ‘Seht dort hinauf! Im Mondschein auf dem
Gräbern’. The passage still isn’t as terrifying as
it should be but in this new transfer it’s a lot better because
Haefliger’s voice has much more presence. After my 2006 review
was published one of our regular readers, Martin Walker, put a most
interesting note on the Message Board in the course of which he
suggested that the lack of intensity may well be attributable to
Walter’s slow pacing at this point which meant his singer was
put under insufficient pressure. I think that’s a very tenable
argument.
Now I’m going to move straightaway to consideration of ‘Der
Abschied’. Immediately we notice an improvement in the Pristine
transfer in that the soft gong strokes project so much better than in
the Sony version: the sound resonates gently but firmly and it makes
such a difference. I now think I
underestimated Mildred
Miller. She’s not as overtly expressive as, say, Kathleen
Ferrier, Janet Baker or Brigitte Fassbaender (who sings for Giulini)
but her singing is poised, the tone is consistently even and pleasing
and there is, on reflection, no want of expression. Moving ahead to
the closing stages of the movement, at ‘Die liebe Erde
allüberall’ her voice opens up much more fully and
satisfyingly in the Pristine transfer, as does the sound of the
accompanying violins. I found Miss Miller’s performance of this
immense movement much more involving and moving this time and I’m
sure that the fact that her voice is now presented to much better
advantage is a key factor. The orchestra, too, comes across much
better in this new transfer. The long orchestral interlude
(14:31–19:59) is well projected in the Sony transfer. However
Pristine’s enhanced sonics improve the listening experience
significantly. We can now enjoy much greater depth, especially in the
bass, and that adds to the power of the music. The doom-laden gong
strokes register much more strongly and the extra space round the
sound of the orchestra helps also. At the very end of the song
there’s a marginal but definite gain in the depth and weight of
the soft, low orchestral chords.
The enhancements of this new transfer that I’ve identified in
the first and last songs are evident in the other four songs also. In
‘Der Einsame im Herbst’ I noted in 2006 that Mildred
Miller is poised and touching. That’s even more evident now for
the new transfer imparts greater body and warmth to her tone while
there’s more definition and detail to the delicate tracery in
the orchestral writing. The fact that the sound of Haefliger’s
voice now has greater body means that his singing of ‘Von der
Jugend’ is much more enjoyable and we can better appreciate the
lightness and delicacy that both he and Walter bring to the music.
As for Walter’s conducting, I still feel that there’s
greater sharpness and intensity in his earlier readings. However, the
mellow character of his reading brings its own rewards and I must not
give the impression that this is a performance devoid of drama for
such is not the case. We can experience here the fruits of a
lifetime’s immersion in Mahler’s music and his experience
is priceless: this is an insightful reading.
I’m in no doubt that this is the version of this interpretation
to have in your collection. I don’t know from what source
Andrew Rose has derived his transfer – mint-condition LPs, I
presume – but the results are outstanding. I don’t think
it’s overstating the case to say that the experience of
listening to the Pristine transfer is akin to viewing a painting
after it as been scrupulously cleaned. This transfer brings new life
and depth not just into what we hear but also into the performance
and, as I’ve indicated, I think it’s played a significant
part in helping me to re-evaluate my thoughts about this recording. I
urge admirers of Bruno Walter in Mahler to hear this transfer, even
if they possess the recording in an earlier incarnation.
John Quinn
Tony
Duggan’s survey of selected recordings of Das Lied von der
Erde