Anglo-German contralto Claudia Huckle, tenor Nicky Spence and pianist Justin Brown present Mahler's autograph piano version of Das Lied von der Erde in this stunning new recording. The recording was a lockdown project, which provided Huckle with a focus for over a year during the pandemic.
Herbert von Karajan was one of the 20th century's supreme conductors - unsurpassed in his ability to mould an orchestra and to achieve his ideal sound. He was also a master in the recording studio, with over 250 albums produced for Deutsche Grammophon - the label with which he is most closely identified. Here, on 10 specially-priced CDs, is a celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth, featuring his work from 1959 to 1979…
The Rhine turned crimson when the royal princess Ursula and her eleven thousand companions were slaughtered by the Huns. Many centuries later, Hildegard of Bingen composed a plainchant office in Ursula’s honour and sent a copy to the Abbey of Villers. The singers of Psallentes♀ sing from this famous manuscript (now housed in Dendermonde).
DG's 20-bit transfer reveals more tape hiss than before, while the orchestral image is better focused, with more definition at the bottom end. Some have likened Herbert von Karajan's "chamber-music approach" to Wagner's Ring cycle in terms of his scaling down or deconstructing the heroic roles. This approach has less to do with dynamics per se than it does with von Karajan's masterful balancing of voices and instruments.