Soprano Christiane Karg is something of a Mahler specialist, with a flexible, slightly metallic voice that fits the composer's extremes of expression. Her fans will take naturally to this release with accompaniment, mostly by pianist Malcolm Martineau. Karg includes a generous sampling of the early Mahler songs published in the 1890s as Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit, and she finds the very Mahlerian qualities in them even though they are harmonically simpler than his mature works. There are also good, edgy ...
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Soprano Christiane Karg is something of a Mahler specialist, with a flexible, slightly metallic voice that fits the composer's extremes of expression. Her fans will take naturally to this release with accompaniment, mostly by pianist Malcolm Martineau. Karg includes a generous sampling of the early Mahler songs published in the 1890s as Lieder und Gesänge aus der Jugendzeit, and she finds the very Mahlerian qualities in them even though they are harmonically simpler than his mature works. There are also good, edgy performances of the Rückert-Lieder and of songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. However, the big news for general listeners here, and even for Mahler lovers, will be the last two tracks, bearing the notation "Gustav Mahler, piano (Welte-Mignon piano rolls)." Apparently, this is the first time these have been recorded as accompaniments for a singer, and the results are extremely intriguing. Mahler's free tempos are striking, as is the effect of having a singer, in effect, accompany the piano. It's...
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