Susan Graham (mezzo-soprano) & Thomas Hampson (baritone)
San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas
SACD
$26.25
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Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony bring their historic Mahler recording cycle to a close with the composer’s three song cycles. Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, who launched their historic Mahler recording cycle in 2001, complete the best-selling, critically acclaimed and award winning project with the composer’s atmospheric song cycles. The live recordings, taken from concerts in the orchestra’s Davies Symphony Hall, features two of America’s most lauded singers, mezzo-soprano Susan Graham in Rückert-Lieder, and baritone Thomas Hampson in Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, and selections from Das Knaben Wunderhorn.
The release coincides with international celebrations Mahler’s music, as 2010 is the 150th anniversary of his birth, and 2011 marks the 100th year of his death. The SFS and MTT, among the world’s leading interpreters of Mahler’s music, will play a significant role in the global commemoration of Mahler, through concerts, prominent media projects, and extensive international tours. The MTT/SFS Mahler cycle has won seven Grammy Awards, including three for Best Classical Album, and has sold over 140,000 recordings world-wide. This final instalment puts the crowning touch on every collector’s CD shelf.
19th September 2010
***
“[Graham's] contribution is unquestionably the highlight. She brings great depth of feeling to Liebst du um Schönheit (If you love for beauty) and Um Mitternacht (At Midnight). Indeed, I can’t think of a finer contemporary female interpreter of these songs on disc. Please, someone, record her in the other two cycles.”
November 2010
**/***
“'Um mitternacht' works best, with gleaming voice complemented by superb San Francisco clarinets and trumpets - glorious recorded perspectives, too, as ever from this source.”
November 2010
*****
“From the opening bars of the Wayfarer songs, Hampson demonstrates his mettle as a gifted storyteller, his warm, legato tones awash with dramatic colour. Susan Graham's mezzo brings similar tonal and dramatic light and shade to the Rückert-Lieder. The orchestra has this music just as sussed.”
November 2010
“It is unusual to hear a baritone sing "Urlicht" or indeed "Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen", but that Housman-like tale is here most sympathetically unfolded...[Hampson's] is a performance of terrific presence and power.”
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