Mahler Symphony No. 4

The ten symphonies of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) have sometimes been likened to a great autobiographical novel, each symphony constituting a chapter in itself while at the same time being an integral part of an unfolding narrative. Within this narrative flow, the fourth symphony (1899-1900) represents a magical pool of tranquility. Mahler drew on various sources in his symphony, one of them being Das himmlische Leben (1892). He originally intended this to be an independent song, but then had ideas of making it the finale of his giant third symphony before ultimately transferring it to his fourth. The song is a naïve vision of the joys of heaven seen through the eyes of a child; the symphony is, as a result, Mahler's most optimistic and relaxed. Here the work is presented by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, led by conductor Leif Segerstam.

When the Bamberg Symphony and their principal conductor Jakub Hrůša went on tour in Germany with Mahler’s Fourth Symphony in January 2020, no one would have thought that this symphony in particular would become a kind of “symphony of fate” of the year, for only two months later, the performance of major symphonic works was impossible for a long time after the “corona lockdown” in Germany, which hit cultural institutions particularly hard.

This Solti performance is the perfect balance between classical structure and clarity with expressive warmth. … Perhaps I'd rather hear Judith Raskin or Margaret Price singing "Das himmlische Leben, but Kiri Te Kanawa is just fine in the end. … This is truly a great performance from beginning to end.

Normally, Mahler's Fourth Symphony is the one that you turn on for great background listening. It's beautiful, lyrical, and Mahler at his most mellow. But underneath its innocent exterior, there's a lot going on, and who better than technician Pierre Boulez to point out the mechanics? Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra deliver an impressive performance of this heavenly work that, on the surface, stays clear of romanticism (or, to some ears, rampant emotion). Instead, Boulez focuses on clarity throughout each and every passage. From his quick-tempoed opening movement to the heart-warming "We Enjoy Heaven's Delights" song of the fourth (performed here by soprano Juliane Banse)–Boulez slowly transitions from clinical to dramatic. It's a captivating, modernist interpretation that's thoroughly enthralling.

If you can get past the 1940s monaural sound (and if you are not already familiar with this performance, you will get a shock). This is the gentlest, most right sounding rendition I have ever heard. The tempi are uncommonly brisk, though they never sound that way. The third movement has never sounded more beautiful. Halban is perfect in the finale. Walter passed away before he could record this work in stereo. His later performances were very different and I'm still not sure whether or not his later slower tempos and even greater expression were an improvement.

The Mahler 4 has a special connection to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. It was recorded by 4 of its music directors in succession: Mengelberg, Van Beinum, Haitink, and Chailly. They also recorded it with Bernstein and Solti. At the time Haitink made this recording in the 1960's, the strings of the orchestra still possessed the gruff, woodsy sound that was one of the ensemble's notable characteristics. It is highly suitable to Mahler's folk like themes. The performance here is moderate in tempo; the playing never seems rushed. Haitink makes even the dramatic pauses in the work seem intrinsic to the overall structure. Overall, there is a soft ambience to the orchestral sound. Nevertheless, the climax to the slow movement is highly dramatic, and it flows very naturally into the tempo for the finale.

In Gustav Mahler's first four symphonies many of the themes originate in his own settings of folk poems from the collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy's Magic Horn). A case in point, Symphony No. 4 is built around a single song, Das himmlische Leben (The Heavenly Life) which Mahler had composed some eight years earlier, in 1892. The song presents a child's vision of Heaven and is hinted at throughout the first three movements. In the fourth, marked ‘Sehr behaglich’ (Very comfortably), the song is heard in full from a solo soprano instructed by Mahler to sing: ‘with serene, childlike expression; completely without parody!’

Valery Gergiev's commitment to late Romantic music has yielded impressive recordings of orchestral works by Anton Bruckner, Richard Strauss, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, and especially Gustav Mahler, whose symphonies received an impressive audiophile cycle from Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra on the LSO Live label. Gergiev appears to have embarked on yet another Mahler series, this time with the Munich Philharmonic, starting in 2016 with a stirring account of the Symphony No. 2 in C minor, "Resurrection," and followed by this 2017 release of the Symphony No. 4 in G major.

After a period-instrument reading of the Symphony no.1 that received unanimous acclaim from the critics, François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles return to Mahler. Joined by the luminous voice of Sabine Devieilhe for the famous finale, they offer us their vision of the Fourth Symphony, which in its own way marks the composer’s transition to modernity, and reveal unsuspected colours and instrumental balances. We still have much to learn about the polyphonic transparency possible within Mahler’s big orchestra!

Of Gustav Mahler's symphonies, the Symphony No. 4 in G major is the most neo-Classical in character, the most lighthearted in expression, and the most compact in form, all of which make it the most accessible of the cycle. Because Mahler's effects are precisely calculated, the music invites few liberties, and performances of the symphony tend to be quite similar in style and pacing; consequently, David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich turn in a meticulous rendition that resembles many others in interpretation and is uncontroversial in execution.