Denk Dir

Over a performing career spanning half a century, Christa Ludwig, born in 1928, consistently proved her greatness. “A source of as deep a satisfaction and fulfilment as the greatest of my operatic roles,” is how she described the place of song in her life, and at the heart of this collection are the emblematic composers of the Austro-German repertoire. Throughout, Christa Ludwig’s interpretative insight is as rich and compelling as her voice, exceptional for its beauty, range and flexibility. This 11-disc collection includes recordings never before released or new to CD, and all items have been remastered in 24BIT/96KHZ from original tapes. This 11CD-set marks the 90th birthday of Christa Ludwig, a German mezzo-soprano who had a major international career between 1940 and 1990. The recordings have been remastered from original tapes – except the album owned by Sony which has been remastered by them.

Gustav Mahler - Nine Symphonies, Orchestral Songs, etc. - Sinopoli (2015) {17CDs Deutsche Grammophon}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 3.88 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 214 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 Deutsche Grammophon
Classical / Romantic / Symphonic

My first reaction was to wonder whether we had not passed saturation-point for recordings of Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Over a dozen are currently available, of which any one of those mentioned above should satisfy the needs of even an insatiable Mahlerian. All are performances on insight, executed in majestic style, and several are available on CD. Now comes Sinopoli to add to the pile. Remembering colleagues' reviews of his London performances of Mahler, I put this recording on the turntable with misgivings. But I have to report that I now gladly make room for this remarkable performance alongside my other favourites. It does not displace them, but it complements them.
Part of the art of conducting seems to me to lie in the ability to make the listener attend afresh to familiar music, to reveal new or different facets. This is what Sinopoli does here, and whatever may go on in the concert hall (I have not heard him there), in the recording studio, judging by this release, the most certainly does not miss or misjudge the spirit of the music.

This recording of a live performance of MEISTERSINGER from Bayreuth 1957 definitely merits five stars. For those of you who don't already know this, Gustav Neidlinger (PeaceBeUponHim) was the undisputed master of Wagner's "howling-and-spitting" villain roles, Alberich and Klingsor, from the early 1950s until the mid 1970s. He sang with unmatched sulfur, cannon-ball density, huge volume, dark tone, and powerful dramatic interpretation. He sang more spontaneously and from-the-gut than most singers. He was the first of his generation to sing these roles with musical line and connected legato, rather than as a series of isolated shouts, grunts, and bellowings. He was typecast for these villainous roles as soon as he set foot on the stage, and almost never performed as a good-guy.