Janet Baker = MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde; BRAHMS: Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53 – Janet Baker, mezzo-soprano/John Mitchinson, tenor/BBC Northern Symphony/Raymond Leppard/BBC Symphony Orchestra/BBC Men’s Chorus/Sir Adrian Boult – BBC Legends

by | Jan 20, 2009 | Classical Reissue Reviews | 0 comments

Janet Baker = MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde; BRAHMS: Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53 – Janet Baker, mezzo-soprano/John Mitchinson, tenor/BBC Northern Symphony/Raymond Leppard/BBC Symphony Orchestra/ BBC Men’s Chorus/Sir Adrian Boult

BBC Legends BBCL 4243-2, 79:19 [Distrib. by Koch] ****:

These two inscriptions capture the fine art of mezzo-soprano Janet Baker (b. 1933), a versatile master of lieder and opera, as well as extended stage works like oratorio, and this “sleeper” performance of Mahler’s un-numbered “symphony” (1907-08), in a concert from Manchester (22 February 1977). What adds distinction to the realization of Mahler’s stormy and resigned reflections on mortality and transience are the presence of tenor John Mitchinson–whom Dame Janet knew in her early days at the Handel Opera Society–and conductor Raymond Leppard, well known for his work in baroque music, but who gleaned a substantial repertory as conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony, 1987-2000.  Leppard served as chief conductor of the BBC Northern Symphony 1973-1980, and it from that tenure that this document takes the Mahler reading.

The intense power of Mitchinson’s vocal delivery in the opening, bitter, passions of the “Drinking Song of Earth’s Woe” finds immediate consolation in the dusky-flavored, charcoal contours of Baker’s “Loneliness in Autumn,” hued by infinite regret at the passing of time. Leppard’s phrasing and etched colors bestow an anguished desolation to the emotional landscape. The little “scherzo,” Of Youth, Mitchinson intones with a delicacy and sly sarcasm that add to the transience of youthful ardor and pleasures. In his second drinking song–perhaps the closest in spirit to Des Knaben Wunderhorn — Mitchinson provides a hearty yearning tinged with despair, death‘s violin lulling us with an end to vain seeking. Baker’s characterization in the Of Beauty section may well parallel what actress Louise Rainer achieved for Olan in the film The Good Earth, a demure, chaste poise rife with degrees of the pathos of lived experience. The orchestra surges up in kaleidoscopic array, a march of striking, glittering power, to be followed by Baker’s alternate, rapid-fire patter and swooping legato. At last, Der Abschied, over 30 minutes of meditation on the evanescence of earthly life, wherein Dame Janet proves the equal of other great interpreters of this sustained, bitter-sweet elegy: Kathleen Ferrier and Maureen Forrester.

The Brahms C Minor setting of Goethe’s “Winter’s Journey Through the Harz Mountains” has been a personal favorite of mine from my early days of hearing Marian Anderson, Kathleen Ferrier, Mildred Miller, and Sigrid Onegin. This performance from Royal Festival Hall, London (6 November 1968) enjoys the authority of Sir Adrian Boult, who himself took his cue in Brahms from both Nikisch and Steinbach. Some startling diminuendi–almost minimalist dynamics–from Baker render the stark, bare setting quite poignant; this, besides a deliberate, agonized pacing, make the eventual entry of the male chorus’ consolations, their “psaltery” (in C Major), that much more affecting. 

— Gary Lemco

 

Related Reviews
Logo Pure Pleasure
Logo Crystal Records Sidebar 300 ms
Logo Jazz Detective Deep Digs Animated 01