1975 Das Lied von der Erde "Der Abschied": Dame Janet Baker, James King
Janet Baker - Mezzo-soprano
Bernard Haitink - Conductor
Royal Concertgebouw - Orchestra
Baker was particularly closely associated with baroque and early Italian opera and the works of Benjamin Britten. During her career, which spanned the 1950s to the 1980s, she was considered an outstanding singing actress and widely admired for her dramatic intensity, perhaps best represented in her famous portrayal as Dido, the tragic heroine of Berlioz's magnum opus, Les Troyens. As a concert performer, Dame Janet was noted for her interpretations of the music of Gustav Mahler and Edward Elgar. David Gutman, writing in Gramophone, described her performance of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder as "intimate, almost self-communing."
Das Lied von der Erde ("The Song of the Earth") is an orchestral song cycle for two voices and orchestra written by Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. Described as a symphony when published, it comprises six songs for two singers who alternate movements. Mahler specified that the two singers should be a tenor and an alto, or else a tenor and a baritone if an alto is not available. Mahler composed this work following the most painful period in his life, and the songs address themes such as those of living, parting, and salvation. On the centenary of Mahler's birth, the composer and prominent Mahler conductor Leonard Bernstein described Das Lied von der Erde as Mahler's "greatest symphony". As with his later Symphony No. 9, Mahler did not live to hear Das Lied von der Erde performed.
Note from Rhys:
Before I get bombarded in the comment section once more, I want to exclaim that this is purely my own opinion. But if you haven't listened to this whole song cycle and are furious about my claim in the title, then I'd recommend listening first. This would probably rank as my second favorite piece of all time, and with it, this is definitely my favorite recording of all time. Her control over the notes and the effortless phrases are the things of paradise. Mahler writes at the very end "Ewig", which translates directly to forever or eternally. The ending is the story of a very tearful farewell of two friends. In one of the final verses of the two poems Mahler used, the text translates to:
He dismounted from his horse and offered him the cup of farewell.
He asked him where he was going and also why it had to be,
He spoke and his voice was muffled with tears.