I think I can honestly state that it has been since 1976 that I last heard Mahler’s Youth’s Magic Horn with baritone and piano only in performance. That memorable concert was with Jorg Demus and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau at the Kennedy Concert Hall in D.C. One of my music history professors said at the time that is was not the most moving concert she had ever heard, but was certainly the most perfect. I would agree with that assessment—I am not certain this piece lends itself to “moving” consistently through, but F-D’s presentation of it was surely a model of Mahler performance. That is why this present release triggered those happy feelings. Though this piece is often in my player in the form of the orchestral version, Stephan Genz displays a fine proficiency here, enough to compare to my memories of F-D’s remarkable internalizing of this work.
Mahler set 24-some poems from this collection, the title given to a large collection of mainly German folks verses by Achim von Arnim (1781-8131) and Cemens von Brentano (1778-1842), and used in an almost political manner to counter what was then felt in some quarters as an overindulgent obsession with Enlightenment ideals, especially since these represented the best of France, and served little to the cause of German nationalism. Each poem here contains a separate and new story, vivid in description and just begging for musical treatment, shown to be received by such luminaries as Schumann, Strauss, Mendelssohn, and Brahms. But it was Mahler who most took these earthy verses to heart, and they became the bedrock of inspiration for any number of symphonies, aside from this collection, piano-scored first but followed by orchestra soon after.
There are any number of good collections of the orchestral version, my favorites being Szell and Bernstein. The piano settings are harder to come by. Thomas Hampson and Geoffrey Parsons paired on a Teldec disc for some interesting results, but I am not sure I like the lighter textures Hampson brings to this music, which need a sort if rugged edge to it, but the beauty is definitely there. And of course there is the classic two-disc set by F-D and Daniel Barenboim, released lately in 2006. But none of these has the clear and unambiguous sound that this Hyperion release has, especially the excellent piano balance, and Genz sings with a definite point of view and a nice sense of characterization. You have to have one of the orchestral versions, but you will also find much satisfaction in Mahler’s superbly realized piano version as well, and this recording will serve many needs.
TrackList:
Reveille
In praise of high intellect
Little Rhine legend
Song of the prisoner in the tower
Where the splendid trumpets sound
The sentinel’s night song
Life on earth
Anthony of Padua’s sermon to the fishes
Who made up this little song?
Consolation in sorrow
Wasted effort
The drummer-boy
Primordial light (Urlicht)
— Steven Ritter
