Mr. Bychkov was clearly moved at the end of Der Abschied, but who would not be? I attended a concert in Madrid back in 2016 with Waltraud Meier and Robert Dean Smith with the Spanish National Orchestra, Miguel Romea conducting. Meier seized the whole auditorium with her warm, intense and velvet voice, all people around me were in tears after those ewig... ewig... It was one of the loudest ovations I had heard in many years, Meier had to make her way out alone several times to thank the intense applause. A truly unforgettable experience.
A magnificent, inspiring and moving performance. The tenor, Torsten Kerl, who in this piece normally has a thankless task battling against a dominant orchestra, masterfully fulfills his part. Waltraud Meier is exceptional. She makes it look so easy.
That's how a tenor should sing. Clear articulation, almost everything is understandable and no singing with a strangled voice. And still he delivers the emotion needed for Mahler
@Steven Moore This is why I gave up about one minute in. The orchestra is buried by the engineers who decided it's a pop concert concerto for voice and anemic orchestra. Horrible!
Bravo!!!! I first heard this piece in 1997, and lucked into buying the Haitink recording not knowing how good it is. And the Klemperer is about equal, IMHO. This is the video equivalent to those! Maestro Bychkov understands Mahler as do the singers. Watching this is like hearing it for the first time. 😀 SIMPLY SUBLIME!
This very special, even by the standards of Bychkov -- the musicians' conductor without airs and graces and always with full knowledge of the insides of the music.
I had the enormous fortune of seeing Waltraud Meier several times at the Met in New York and at the Bastille Opera. Her renditon of Carmen, somehow not a role for her voice, was wonderful. However her Isolde, Clytemnestra, and all the Wagnerian characters is superb, outstanding beyond any doubt.
Waltraut Meier is one of the leading German sopranos today. When this recording was made her voice was much better than what it later became. She has pretty much owned the role of Kundry from Parsifal and has been a leading Sieglinde, most memorably partnering with Placido Domingo's Siegmund. Believe it all not she even sang Isolde !
I've always been a Wunderlich/Ludwig/Klemperer fan. This performance gives them a run for their money. Some of that singing and playing is downright violent. It's the only other one which I've played back-to-back.
Thanks so much for your comment. I'm addicted to that recording and was reluctant to even look around on TH-cam for another rendering. But right off the bat, this is showing me that it means business. Now I have a go-to alternate recording.
It's hard to compare. The Klemperer is a studio recording and Klemp was a GREAT studio conductor as he had time to mold the performance into the way he wanted it to sound. If you enjoy Klemp you might also like Haitink with James King and Janet Baker (arguaby one of the great Mahler sopranos ever and an extremely self critical artist). You also get the Concertgebouw which along with the NYPO are the world's leading Mahler orchestras.
@@orientaldagger6920 For sheer heartstoppingness, it's difficult to beat the boxy live 1952 Walter/Patzak/Ferrier/Vienna Phil recording. Ferrier knew she was dying, and didn't like the idea; anymore than Schubert did in his late instrumental works, or Mahler in writing this one. Der Abschied was indeed her farewell. I share your assessment of Baker. She was also peerless as the Waldtaube in Gurre-Lieder.
Gustav Mahler was not at all religious, but he sure was superstitious. Primary among his fears was the Curse of the Ninth. Beethoven wrote nine symphonies, started on a Tenth.....and died. Schubert wrote nine (with caveats) and died. Same with Bruckner. When Mahler completed his Eighth Symphony he thought to fool death by writing "Das Lied von der Erde," a symphony of sorts, and which he did not number, but still not that fated Ninth. With no way out, he did write a Ninth Symphony in spite of severely failing heart health. Even made sketches for a Tenth, but as with the others.....died.
@Harold Slick And being diagnosed with a congenital heart defect and being fired as director of the Vienna Opera, all at about the same time, had little or nothing to do with it. ?
It shouldn't be forgotten that with the exception of a relatively short passage on only one staff in the finale, the Tenth is very thoroughly sketched out. Deryck Cooke's instrumentation of the sketches with considerable amplification of the harmony and counterpoint is an experience which I would not want to have missed for the world! For my feeling, the last three movements of the Tenth are the greatest work Mahler ever wrote - even if they are not entirely his own.
@Harold Slick He isn't at the beginning, he is at the end. The 9th and the 10th (masterfully "completed" by Deryck Cooke) repeat this transformation yet again. How he really felt on his death bed, we shall probably never know. Alma claims that his last word was, "Mozartl!" Did music by Mozart occur to him at the ultimate moment, or did he halluinate that Mozart was welcoming him into Paradise? If anyone ever deserved to be admitted to heaven by Mozart in parson, it was surely Mahler!
Absolutely fantastic performance. For some reason, a couple of sections remind me of the soundtrack to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, by John Williams. Might partially be the use of harps.
At the risk of degrading such a fine piece.....Anyone come here from the Tom Lehrer song "Alma," wondering what this sounds like? You learn something new every day!
Mr. Bychkov was clearly moved at the end of Der Abschied, but who would not be?
I attended a concert in Madrid back in 2016 with Waltraud Meier and Robert Dean Smith with the Spanish National Orchestra, Miguel Romea conducting. Meier seized the whole auditorium with her warm, intense and velvet voice, all people around me were in tears after those ewig... ewig... It was one of the loudest ovations I had heard in many years, Meier had to make her way out alone several times to thank the intense applause. A truly unforgettable experience.
A magnificent, inspiring and moving performance. The tenor, Torsten Kerl, who in this piece normally has a thankless task battling against a dominant orchestra, masterfully fulfills his part. Waltraud Meier is exceptional. She makes it look so easy.
Divino ,mahler es único sensibilidad y espiritualidad, esta en el Olimpo de los compositores
That's how a tenor should sing. Clear articulation, almost everything is understandable and no singing with a strangled voice. And still he delivers the emotion needed for Mahler
@Steven Moore This is why I gave up about one minute in. The orchestra is buried by the engineers who decided it's a pop concert concerto for voice and anemic orchestra. Horrible!
Wonderful interpretation especially from Ms. Waltraud Meier! Bravo!
49:35 - 55:10 is so despairing and beautiful and so dark...a unique combination all Mahler's own.
Waltraud Meier one of most beautiful sopranos ever, she has an exquisite voice that leaves me breathless
Bravo!!!! I first heard this piece in 1997, and lucked into buying the Haitink recording not knowing how good it is. And the Klemperer is about equal, IMHO. This is the video equivalent to those! Maestro Bychkov understands Mahler as do the singers. Watching this is like hearing it for the first time. 😀 SIMPLY SUBLIME!
One of my favorites. The orchestration is sublime. This is a fine interpretation.
BRAVOOOO!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Excelente interpretación.
Mahler siendo Mahler. Su mejor obra, sin dudas.
This very special, even by the standards of Bychkov -- the musicians' conductor without airs and graces and always with full knowledge of the insides of the music.
Que belleza de versión. No conocía a Waltraud Meier. Fantástica. Sin trémolos, con naturalidad, expresiva. Me gusta.
I had the enormous fortune of seeing Waltraud Meier several times at the Met in New York and at the Bastille Opera. Her renditon of Carmen, somehow not a role for her voice, was wonderful. However her Isolde, Clytemnestra, and all the Wagnerian characters is superb, outstanding beyond any doubt.
For those who are receptive , it never fails to move one to the very foundation of one's personality...
Simply awesome...
extrodinary pieces...even more amazed after knowing that it was based on 7 different chinese poems
exceptional and unmatched rendition, una meraviglia
That was just gorgeous. i think Waltraud must be the best singer in the world.
Wonderful performance!!
Excellent interpretation, one of my favorites.
Stunning performance.
Here are the lyrics, if you want to read along.
________________________
1. Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde
The wine now beckons in the golden goblet, -
But drink not yet, first I’ll sing you a song!
The song of sorrow
Shall resound through your soul in gusts of laughter.
When sorrow draws near,
The gardens of the soul lie wasted,
Joy and singing wither and die.
Dark is life, is death.
Master of this house!
Your cellar is filled with golden wine!
I name this lute here my own!
Striking the lute and draining beakers,
These are things that go well together!
A full beaker of wine at the right time
Is worth more than all the kingdoms of this earth.
Dark is life, is death!
The firmament is forever blue, and the earth
Will long stand firm and blossom in spring.
But you, O man, how long do you live?
Not even a hundred years can you delight
In all the brittle trumpery of this earth.
Look down there! On the moonlit graves
A wild ghostly form is squatting.
It is an ape! Hear him howl
And screech at life’s sweet fragrance!
Now take up the wine! Now, friends, is the time!
Drain your golden beakers to the dregs.
Dark is life, is death.
________________________
2. Der Einsame im Herbst
Bluish autumn mists drift over the lake,
Each blade of grass is covered with rime,
As though an artist had strewn jade-dust
Over the delicate blossoms.
The sweet fragrance of the flowers has faded,
A cold wind bends low their stems;
Soon the withered golden petals
Of the lotus-flower will drift on the water.
My heart is weary. My little lamp
Guttered with a hiss, it summons me to sleep.
I come to you, beloved resting-place, -
You, give me rest, I need to be refreshed!
I weep much in my loneliness,
The autumn in my heart persists too long;
Sun of love, will you never shine again
And dry up tenderly my bitter tears?
________________________
3. Von der Jugend
In the middle of the little pool
Stand a pavilion of green
And white porcelain.
Like a tiger’s back
The jade bridge arches
Over to the pavilion.
Friends sit in the little house,
Beautifully dressed, drinking, chatting, -
Several are writing verses.
Their silken sleeves slip
Back, their silken caps
Fall cheerfully onto their necks.
On the little pool’s still
Surface everything is
Strangely mirrored:
Everything stands on its head
In the pavilion of green
And white porcelain.
The bridge seems like a half-moon,
Its arch inverted. Friends,
Beautifully dressed, are drinking, chatting.
________________________
4. Von der Schönheit
Young girls are picking flowers,
Lotus-flowers by the river’s edge.
They sit among bushes and leaves,
Gather blossoms into their laps and call
To each other teasingly.
Golden sunlight weaves round their forms,
Mirrors them in the shining water,
Sunlight mirrors their slender limbs
And their sweet eyes,
And the breeze lifts with its caresses
The fabric of their sleeves, wafts the magic
Of their fragrance through the air.
O look, what handsome boys are these, riding
Friskily along the bank on spirited horses?
Shining afar, like the sun’s rays;
Now they canter between green willow branches,
These lads in the flush of youth.
The horse of one whinnies happily,
And shies and races off,
Its hooves fly over flowers and grass,
Trampling the fallen blossom as they storm past.
Look how its mane flutters in its frenzy,
Look how the nostrils steam!
Golden sunlight weaves round their forms,
Mirrors them in the shining water.
And the loveliest of the girls
Shoots him long yearning glances.
Her proud bearing is mere pretence:
In the flashing of her large eyes,
In the darkness of her ardent gaze
Her agitated heart still throbs and grieves for him.
________________________
5. Der Trunkene im Frühling
If life is but a dream,
Why should there be toil and torment?
I drink till I can drink no longer,
The whole day through.
And when I can drink no longer,
Since throat and soul are full,
I stagger to my door
And sleep stupendously!
What do I hear when I wake? Listen!
A bird sings in the tree.
I ask him if spring has come, -
It all seems like a dream.
The bird twitters: yes, spring
Is here, it came overnight!
In deepest contemplation I listened,
The bird sings and laughs.
I fill my beaker again
And drain it to the dregs
And sing until the moon shines bright
In the black firmament.
And when I can sing no longer,
I fall asleep again.
For what has spring to do with me!?
Let me be drunk!
________________________
6. Der Abschied
The sun sinking behind the mountains,
Evening falls in every valley
With its shadows full of coolness.
O look! Like a silver bark
The moon floats up the sky’s blue lake.
I feel a gentle breeze stir
Behind the dark spruces!
The brook sings melodiously through the dark,
The flowers grow pale in the twilight.
The earth breathes full of peace and sleep.
All desire now turns to dreaming,
Weary mortals make for home,
To recapture in sleep
Forgotten happiness and youth.
Birds huddle silently on their branches,
The world falls asleep.
A cool wind blows in the shadow of my spruces,
I stand here and wait for my friend;
I wait to bid him a final farewell.
I long, O friend, to enjoy
The beauty of this evening by your side.
Where can you be? You have left me alone so long!
I wander up and down with my lute
On pathways rippling with soft grass.
O beauty! O world drunk with eternal love and life!
He dismounted and handed him the stirrup-cup.
He asked him where he was going
And also why it had to be.
He spoke, his voice was veiled: my friend,
Fortune was not kind to me on earth.
Where am I going? I go into the mountains,
I seek peace for my lonely heart.
I am making for home, my resting-place!
I shall never roam abroad again -
My heart is still and awaits its hour!
Everywhere the dear earth
Blossoms in spring and grows green again!
Everywhere and forever the distance shines bright and blue!
Forever… forever…
Translation © Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
A DIVINE interpretation!
This is the best Mahlers symphony!
I agree!
They are all the best IMHO !
@@orientaldagger6920: You’re right! The greatest Mahler symphony is the one you happen to be listening to.
😎🎹
Quelle expressivité dans le dernier mouvement: Waltraud Meier vit vraiment ce texte, qu'elle chante avec sensibilité et intelligence
The woman can do no wrong, musically. She is a marvel.
Fresh full of sense and expression
Nowadays is very attentive performance to admire.
26:07 “no one is going to hear the words anyway”
i know I am quite off topic but do anybody know of a good website to watch newly released movies online ?
@Beau Coen I watch on FlixZone. Just google for it =)
@Ares Hudson yea, I've been using FlixZone for months myself :D
@Ares Hudson thanks, I went there and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :) I really appreciate it !
@Beau Coen You are welcome xD
Those harps are beautiful
I love this lady. She brings life and meaning to what could otherwise be a dull vocal exercise.
Waltraut Meier is one of the leading German sopranos today. When this recording was made her voice was much better than what it later became. She has pretty much owned the role of Kundry from Parsifal and has been a leading Sieglinde, most memorably partnering with Placido Domingo's Siegmund. Believe it all not she even sang Isolde !
A dull vocal exercise? You must be joking.
I've always been a Wunderlich/Ludwig/Klemperer fan. This performance gives them a run for their money. Some of that singing and playing is downright violent. It's the only other one which I've played back-to-back.
Thanks so much for your comment. I'm addicted to that recording and was reluctant to even look around on TH-cam for another rendering. But right off the bat, this is showing me that it means business. Now I have a go-to alternate recording.
It's hard to compare. The Klemperer is a studio recording and Klemp was a GREAT studio conductor as he had time to mold the performance into the way he wanted it to sound. If you enjoy Klemp you might also like Haitink with James King and Janet Baker (arguaby one of the great Mahler sopranos ever and an extremely self critical artist). You also get the Concertgebouw which along with the NYPO are the world's leading Mahler orchestras.
@@orientaldagger6920 For sheer heartstoppingness, it's difficult to beat the boxy live 1952 Walter/Patzak/Ferrier/Vienna Phil recording. Ferrier knew she was dying, and didn't like the idea; anymore than Schubert did in his late instrumental works, or Mahler in writing this one. Der Abschied was indeed her farewell.
I share your assessment of Baker. She was also peerless as the Waldtaube in Gurre-Lieder.
Non mais la coiffure de Torsten Kerl, au secours !
Con razon el maestro Arteaga decia que era una grandisima obra maestra y una de sus favoritas
SAD IS LIFE ! SAD IS DEATH !!!
Gustav Mahler was not at all religious, but he sure was superstitious. Primary among his fears was the Curse of the Ninth. Beethoven wrote nine symphonies, started on a Tenth.....and died. Schubert wrote nine (with caveats) and died. Same with Bruckner. When Mahler completed his Eighth Symphony he thought to fool death by writing "Das Lied von der Erde," a symphony of sorts, and which he did not number, but still not that fated Ninth. With no way out, he did write a Ninth Symphony in spite of severely failing heart health. Even made sketches for a Tenth, but as with the others.....died.
@Harold Slick And being diagnosed with a congenital heart defect and being fired as director of the Vienna Opera, all at about the same time, had little or nothing to do with it. ?
@Harold Slick Exactly what you said. Say goodnight, Gracie.
It shouldn't be forgotten that with the exception of a relatively short passage on only one staff in the finale, the Tenth is very thoroughly sketched out. Deryck Cooke's instrumentation of the sketches with considerable amplification of the harmony and counterpoint is an experience which I would not want to have missed for the world! For my feeling, the last three movements of the Tenth are the greatest work Mahler ever wrote - even if they are not entirely his own.
7:40 "Hockt eine wild gespenstische Gestalt." Sing that 5X fast.
26:06 Bernstein: "no one is going to hear the words anyway”
素晴らしいの一言、最終章 告別の音世界はこの世の物ではない🗾
He's not going gentle into that good night.
@Harold Slick He isn't at the beginning, he is at the end. The 9th and the 10th (masterfully "completed" by Deryck Cooke) repeat this transformation yet again. How he really felt on his death bed, we shall probably never know. Alma claims that his last word was, "Mozartl!" Did music by Mozart occur to him at the ultimate moment, or did he halluinate that Mozart was welcoming him into Paradise? If anyone ever deserved to be admitted to heaven by Mozart in parson, it was surely Mahler!
Those are some serious lips!
Angelina Jolie would be so jealous. Because they're natural, not injected.
Liebe Waltraud, Your rendition of the liebestod is outstanding, dieses ist.. leider.. Herzlos
dieses Stueck gefaelt dir ueberhaupt nicht! Is'Wahr?
Meier's no Ludwig...but she can sing her chops off that is certain.
Absolutely fantastic performance. For some reason, a couple of sections remind me of the soundtrack to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, by John Williams. Might partially be the use of harps.
Where do you think all these modern film composers get their inspirations?
Dunkel ist das leben, ist der tod.
Ewig... Ewig... Ewig... :"(
Ewig
Ewig
At the risk of degrading such a fine piece.....Anyone come here from the Tom Lehrer song "Alma," wondering what this sounds like? You learn something new every day!
Tom Lehrer doesn't degrade anything ;), he's great. Coming here because of "Alma" is certainly a good reason to find this magnificent symphony.
23:03
please excuse me folks, but the conductor looks like a a cross of vladimir mensik (actor) and ralph towner(guotarist)
singer lady be like Ewig
🤣🤣🤣
1:01:30
후기 낭만주의 작곡가
구스타브말러
오케스트라와 리트
35:35
45:45
I suggest a new eyebrow shaping to this beautiful singer! Mr Spok shoudn't be her model to imitate...
big beats and very little subdivision. lack of inner rhythm.
The tenor is awfull. ! 1 : DFK 2: Kollo Don't know who hotlips is.
DFK is not a tenor.
44:25
38:45