Gustav Mahler

“There are conductors who perform Mahler, and then there are Mahlerians – the ones who can understand and convey the composer’s distinctive blend of extravagant sentiment and sardonic, excoriating wit. Michael Tilson Thomas is a true Mahlerian, one of those conductors for whom this composer’s symphonies and songs are central texts, and for whom Mahler’s music forms an essential link between the past century and our own… likely to become the standard recording of this little-known score.” San Francisco Chronicle, May 1997

“What a glorious prospect Mahler's first major work opens up for us – and how beautifully it is realised here. The original three-part version of this ambitious folkloric cantata is like a musical manifesto of pretty well all Mahler to come. Horn calls in the prelude to 'Waldmärchen' ('Forest Tale') awaken his unique nature-world; elfin woodwind fanfares intimate martial music as far as the Seventh and Eighth symphonies; the First Symphony (third movement) is germinating at the close of part 1, the opening of the Second is already in place with the first bars of 'Der Spielmann' ('The Wandering Musician'); and with 'Hochzeitsstück' ('Wedding Feast') Mahler seems to find himself in Act 2 of Wagner's Götterdämmerung contemplating the opera he never wrote. But more startling than anything in Das Klagende Lied is Mahler's feeling for, and command of, the orchestra – and this from a composer who'd never heard a note of his own orchestration.
Recorded in 1996 (and originally released by RCA), the subtle detailing and nuancing of this performance indicates painstaking preparation but arrives in our living rooms sounding as if the ink is still wet on the page. Each repetition of that madrigal-like choral ritornello intensifies the lamentation of the title until release is found in the anguish of the wronged queen and soprano Marina Shaguch hurls out her leaping vocal line to bring down the walls of the castle. That's Mahler's innate theatricality for you. Quite a piece, and quite a performance.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“In the total confidence of the trumpeter's highly rhythmic opening solo and the tender string nuancing of the Adagietto, this Fifth holds up well.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2007 ****

“Dudamel and his players are superb in the first two movements. This is music which suits their style, serious and impassioned, universal rather than local, untroubled by kitsch.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2007

“quite simply the hottest new conductor for a generation” The Observer

“Gottwald's awesome technical demands put much of this music way beyond the scope of most choirs, and it is greatly to Ralph Allwood's credit that the Rodolfus Choir, most of whom are students and all of whom are under 25, have not only tackled this music at all but have done so with considerable distinction ... there is a collective enthusiasm for the music and for art of choral singing” Gramophone Magazine