Das Lied von der Erde

There are more recordings (at least 15) of Gustav Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde in my CD collection than of any other single work (even his Second Symphony!). I've often asked myself why that is. I'm going to try to figure it out now.

The first recording of it that I heard was an LP with Richard Lewis and Maureen Forrester. I remember not understanding the liner notes: How did Mahler take a German translation of Chinese poems and then change them to fit his purposes? Why did he do that? The pieces don't have much in the way of Chinese tonalities, and the texts fit into the dark Romantic German landscape as well as Caspar David Friedrich's paintings. 

The lines that stuck with me after the first few hearings were "Dunkel ist das Leben, dunkel ist der Tod" and "...ein Aff' ist's" and, of course, the final "...ewig, ewig...". I was into Nietzsche and Hesse at that point in my life - as is the wont of many 20 year-olds - and these grotesque, life-threatening words and the accompanying music struck a chord with me. 

The tenor seems to be singing for his life in both "Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde" and "Der Trunkene im Frühling". Those two short songs/movements made a big impression on me from the outset, perhaps because my experience with the subject matter (drinking alcohol) was peaking. Maybe Mahler captured the feeling of being 20 in these songs perfectly and that's why they resonated with me. When Bruno Walter (a friend and colleague of Mahler's) was coaching Ernst Haefliger for their 1960 recording of those pieces, he suggested, "You have to sing about wine, not about beer."

It wasn't until a couple of decades later that "Der Abschied" really hit me. Even though I was known as "Mr. Death" among the high school students whom I taught American Literature in my mid-20s, on account of my fondness for the topic, I was fortunate not to have lost any close friends or relatives up to that point. Death was a theoretical ending. I was preparing myself for the worst while still at my best. That's something I've often been accused of doing. When I began losing friends and relatives - as we all do when we approach a certain age - perhaps this last, long movement was finally able to resonate fully with me.

In contrast to many other works, Das Lied is not necessarily a piece that gained depth or made a deeper impression on me from hearing it live. That doesn't mean that I didn't drive across the Appalachian Mountains during a snow storm to hear Maureen sing it in 1988 in Charleston, WV. I did and it was wonderful. But I think the music is so penetrating and, especially with "Der Abschied", so draining that I find it uncomfortable to listen to in public. I want to hear it in my own comfortable surroundings so that I can put the pieces of my life together while meditating on the music. At times I also need to be able to skip forward or repeat sections to maintain my balance.

Having Maureen autograph her autobiography after her performance of Das Lied von der Erde in Charleston

Another aspect that makes live performances tricky is that it is an incredibly difficult piece to sing. The tenor, as I wrote above, has to give 150% and there are few who can do that. The tenor in Charleston was excellent; the others I've heard haven't been up to the job. Listen to Fritz Wunderlich if you want to experience the best. In Freiburg in the 1990s I heard a tenor sing it two nights in a row. The first evening's performance was prefaced by the orchestra manager's announcement that the tenor had a cold but was going to sing anyway. He scraped the high notes (of which there are many and most are ff) but made it through. I was foolhardy enough to go to the next performance and heard the sick tenor sing his parts in a range of about five notes. It was brave but not pretty. 

As for "Der Abschied" Kathleen Ferrier's recording with Bruno Walter is considered by most experts to be the non plus ultra. He had previously recorded it (in one take!) to great acclaim with Mildred Miller, who had never sung it with an orchestra until she was in the recording studio, but Ferrier (1912-53), who was nearing her end on account of metastasizing breast cancer, captured on record the depth this piece needs. In her first performance of the piece with Walter, she apologized afterwards for not singing the last of the five repetitions of "ewig" because she was crying. She apologized for her "unprofessionalism", but Walter replied, "My dear Miss Ferrier, if we were all as professional as you, we would all be in tears."

Originally, Walter wanted to record Das Lied with Forrester, whom he had chosen as the soloist in Mahler's Second Symphony in 1958. However, Maureen had an exclusive recording contract with RCA and Walter was with CBS, so she recorded it with Fritz Reiner (not a Mahler specialist), and he contracted Mildred Miller for his recording. However, there is a live recording of the two teaming up with Das Lied in New York in 1960.

I've seen the Stuttgart Ballet's performance of Kenneth MacMillan's choreography of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, during which a tenor and an alto (or baritone) - standing downstage on either side sing live. Several other choreographers have put Mahler's music on stage, too (Jerome Robbins, Kelly Roth. John Neumeier danced MacMillan's ballet while he was in John Cranko's troupe and has choreographed most of Mahler's music himself since then. Experiencing this Gesamtkunstwerk increases one's appreciation for the music and for the art of dance. 

Mahler originally wrote the piece both in an arrangement for piano and in a fully orchestrated score. Cyprian Katsaris recorded it with Brigitte Fassbaender and Thomas Moser. Leonard Bernstein chose to record it with two men, James King and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (and they take it very slowly!). Last year Jonas Kaufmann recorded all six songs himself, which raised the question in a Mahler Facebook forum as to whether anyone has ever chosen six different singers for the songs. Interesting idea!

What's your favorite recording? What is your favorite concert memory of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde?