Track Listing

1. Kindertotenlieder, song cycle for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 1, "Nun will die Sonn' so hell aufgehn"
2. Kindertotenlieder, song cycle for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 2, "Nun seh' ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen"
3. Kindertotenlieder, song cycle for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 3, "Wenn dein Mutterlein tritt zur Tur herein"
4. Kindertotenlieder, song cycle for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 4, "Oft denk' ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen!"
5. Kindertotenlieder, song cycle for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 5, "In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus"
6. Rückert Lieder, song collection for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 1, "Ich atmet' einen linden Duft"
7. Rückert Lieder, song collection for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 2, "Liebst du um Schonheit": "Liebst du um Schonheit, o nicht m
8. Rückert Lieder, song collection for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 3, "Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder!"
9. Rückert Lieder, song collection for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 4, "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen"
10. Rückert Lieder, song collection for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 5, "Um Mitternacht': "Um Mitternacht hab' ich gewacht"
11. Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, song cycle for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 1, "Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht"
12. Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, song cycle for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 2, "Ging heut' Morgen ubers Feld"
13. Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, song cycle for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 3, "Ich hab' ein gluhend' Messer, ein Messer in mei
14. Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, song cycle for voice & piano (or orchestra): No. 4, "Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz"
15. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, song for voice & piano (or orchestra) (Rückert Lieder No. 3)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64973 in Music
• Released on: 1999-05-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Customer Reviews

Gorgeous Mahler performance with lots of heart
I'd normally be pretty skeptical of anything titled "Great Recordings of the 20th Century," but EMI's nailed it with this one. We have here the superb musicianship and beautiful voice of Janet Baker with sympathetic support by Barbirolli. The Kindertotenlieder is particularly affecting. Robert Fripp has called this the "music of God's tears," and Miss Baker convinces me that this is an apt description. Highly recommended.

One-of-a-kind performance
It has been noted that everything Dame Janet Baker recorded is well worth hearing, and perhaps that is most true when she worked with Sir John Barbirolli. They did not record many works together (these, Elgar's "Sea Pictures" and "Dream," and Berlioz's "Les Nuits d'Eté" about cover it), but every one holds a special place in the discography.

Mahler's song cycles may have been written for a man's voice (such as Thomas Hampson or Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau). However, listening to these performances, you'd never miss the difference. Baker and Barbirolli capture the atmosphere of each song perfectly, with especially lovely performances of the Rückert Lieder--the ending of "Um Mitternacht" is awe-inspiring. Then the Kindertotenlieder come along, and the raw emotion in both orchestra and voice alternately shock and soothe the listener.

Anyone who wants an introduction to Mahler's song cycles need not hesitate over this disc.

What else can I say?
This is truly an incredible cd. Dame Janet Baker was a great artist, who some reviewers said was a singing actress on the level of Callas, but without the ugly top notes. When she undertook a role or a song, she completely invested herself in it. Her retirement was, for me, a very sad day.

In the Kindertotenlieder, she is a bereft mother, crushed by the loss of her children. While each song is heartbreaking in its own way, she still manages to reach even deeper in the final song, "In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus" in which the mother, driven mad by her loss, laments that her (dead) children should not be out in the storm raging outside.

In the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, she is a completely different character, a lonely wanderer, encompassing a wide range of emotions. Most striking to me was the distraught "Ich hab' ein gluhend' Messer", where, even if you don't know German or have the translation in front of you, you know that this is a person in pain.

To me, however, the greatest triumph on this cd is the Five Ruckert Lieder, in which Dame Janet goes from strength to strength. "Um Mitternacht" is absolutely soul-stirringly magnificent, but the crown jewel is "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen", which is incredibly moving. It is otherworldly in a way that only one who has forsworn the world could know.

If you don't know the artistry of the great Dame Janet Baker, there are few better places to start. Be warned, however, that this is not music to be played when you are depressed!