# Favorite Urlicht?



## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

I went through and listened to all the recordings of Mahler's Urlicht from Symphony No.2 yesterday. I have to say my favorite is Bernstein/NYPO with Jennie Tourel. I like the slower tempo and rich drama of it. But this is my favorite moment in the whole symphony and it's not easy to screw it up, unless you're working with a talentless singer (which I have yet to hear in this symphony). 

Anyway, does anyone love this song as much as I do? Of all the Mahler 2 recordings out there, which one contains your favorite Urlicht?


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Forrester/Walter/NYPO


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## Long02 (Jun 23, 2018)

Kozena/Rattle/BPO
Her voice really touches me every time I listen to this version


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Mira Zakai (contralto) C.S.O Solti / Jennie Tourel/Bernstein/NYPO / Ludwig/ W.P- Bernstein


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

I do love this song and have been listening to recordings of it for years. My two favorite recordings are:

Stokowski/London Symphony Orchestra, 1974, RCA Red Seal, Brigitte Fassbinder mezzo,
Gielen/SWR Sinfonieorchester, 1996, SWR, Cornelia Kallisch mezzo.

I find Stokowski dramatic but not melodramatic. The horns are nicely blended and appropriately mellow. He has the orchestra giving Fassbaender the stage. The Gielen version is characteristically restrained and allows the composer’s drama to sing through. The horns are more treble sounding but not shrill, and the orchestra plays more of a role than in the Stokowski. Fassbaender has more vibrato, and I slightly prefer her clarinet-like timbre to Kallisch’s more flute-like voice. The sound quality of the Gielen is superior as we would expect. Both of these mezzos give heartfelt but controlled performances.

I don’t believe that Kathleen Ferrier ever recorded Urlicht, but I wish she had.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

If you like the slower tempo you might try Mehta/Wiener Philharmoniker with Christa Ludwig singing. It's quite good.


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## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

Michelle DeYoung with Pierre Boulez and the Wiener Philharmoniker


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

seitzpf said:


> I don't believe that Kathleen Ferrier ever recorded Urlicht, but I wish she had.


Au contraire...


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

BachIsBest said:


> If you like the slower tempo you might try Mehta/Wiener Philharmoniker with Christa Ludwig singing. It's quite good.


Mehta is not a conductor I have much interest in, but I know his Resurrection is indeed much lauded. And I do love Christa Ludwig. Thanks for the rec.

Interesting replies, thanks everyone. I see a few names that I've been curious about, and a few more interesting choices. I didn't know Stokowski recorded Mahler 2 for instance.

@wkasimer, is that Ferrier Urlicht part of a complete performance, or just recorded as a standalone song?


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## Simplicissimus (Feb 3, 2020)

wkasimer said:


> Au contraire...


Wow, from 1951 with Klemperer and the Concertgebouw, it looks like. Ferrier's voice is as beautiful as I imagined. However, I find Fassbaender and Kallisch more convincing.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Mine would be Bernstein's performance in Ely Cathedral with Janet Baker, mostly because I remember seeing it on TV and it made a huge impression on me.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

seitzpf said:


> Wow, from 1951 with Klemperer and the Concertgebouw, it looks like. Ferrier's voice is as beautiful as I imagined. However, I find Fassbaender and Kallisch more convincing.


Oh yeah, I was just looking at an Archipel CD with that performance yesterday. It sounds great, plus at just over 71 minutes it may be the fastest Resurrection on record.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I don't know what's wrong with me. I've never considered the Resurrection as one of Mahler's best, nor the greatest symphony in the world, as many do. Nor, when I listen to it, am I particularly taken by Urlicht. Never have been. Go figure.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

flamencosketches said:


> I went through and listened to all the recordings of Mahler's Urlicht from Symphony No.2 yesterday. I have to say my favorite is Bernstein/NYPO with Jennie Tourel. I like the slower tempo and rich drama of it. But this is my favorite moment in the whole symphony and it's not easy to screw it up, unless you're working with a talentless singer (which I have yet to hear in this symphony).
> 
> Anyway, does anyone love this song as much as I do? Of all the Mahler 2 recordings out there, which one contains your favorite Urlicht?


does the title refer to the use of the song in the Symphony #2, or as Lieder from the Wayfarer Songs?


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

MarkW said:


> I don't know what's wrong with me. I've never considered the Resurrection as one of Mahler's best, nor the greatest symphony in the world, as many do. Nor, when I listen to it, am I particularly taken by Urlicht. Never have been. Go figure.


Nothing wrong with you. I can see how the symphony would be not for everyone. I was hooked right away when I heard it, but I'd already "warmed up" to Mahler so to speak with the 1st and 4th symphonies. I think if I'd heard the 2nd first, I would have found it overblown. Urlicht is a nice orchestral song that is inserted into a great symphony. When I first heard it, I thought it was hilarious that he'd done that. Really, it's just a standard four-movement symphony with an otherwise unrelated song inserted into it. And yet somehow it's my favorite moment of the symphony  My other favorite moment is the timpani flourish that opens the scherzo. Man, I'm getting hyped thinking about Mahler 2, it might be time to listen again... 



Triplets said:


> does the title refer to the use of the song in the Symphony #2, or as Lieder from the Wayfarer Songs?


Urlicht isn't one of the Songs of a Wayfarer, is it? I have several recordings of that work and none of them include Urlicht. I thought it was a Wunderhorn song originally.


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## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

flamencosketches said:


> Urlicht isn't one of the Songs of a Wayfarer, is it? I have several recordings of that work and none of them include Urlicht. I thought it was a Wunderhorn song originally.


Yup, it's definitely a Wunderhorn song. Also interesting to note that the scherzo of the 2nd also came directly from a Wunderhorn song. I really do think it's necessary for newcomers to Mahler to hear that song cycle before any of the first four symphonies, to get a taste of how he integrated his work.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> Yup, it's definitely a Wunderhorn song. Also interesting to note that the scherzo of the 2nd also came directly from a Wunderhorn song. I really do think it's necessary for newcomers to Mahler to hear that song cycle before any of the first four symphonies, to get a taste of how he integrated his work.


I don't know about it being _necessary_ to hear the Wunderhorn cycle first. It was the early symphonies that got me hooked on Mahler, and it was a joy when I discovered the song cycles later and was able to hear connections to motives from the symphonies that I knew and loved. But I definitely agree that any new Mahler fan owes it to himself or herself to hear not only _Lieder aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn_ but also the _Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen_ and the _5 Rückert-Lieder_ as soon as possible (we'll save the _Kindertotenlieder_ for the fully-converted, please).


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

flamencosketches said:


> Oh yeah, I was just looking at an Archipel CD with that performance yesterday. It sounds great, plus at just over 71 minutes it may be the fastest Resurrection on record.


It is actually the fastest resurrection on record. Klemperer has both the fastest and slowest resurrection on record which I think is a distinction unique to him as I know no other conductor that has the fastest and slowest recording of the same work.


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

BachIsBest said:


> It is actually the fastest resurrection on record. Klemperer has both the fastest and slowest resurrection on record which I think is a distinction unique to him as I know no other conductor that has the fastest and slowest recording of the same work.


Wait, which slow Resurrection are you talking about from Klemperer? I only know of the fast one with the RCO and then the studio one with the Philharmonia, which is also quite fast at just under 80 minutes. I know he has by far the slowest 7th on record.


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## BachIsBest (Feb 17, 2018)

flamencosketches said:


> Wait, which slow Resurrection are you talking about from Klemperer? I only know of the fast one with the RCO and then the studio one with the Philharmonia, which is also quite fast at just under 80 minutes. I know he has by far the slowest 7th on record.







The slowest one! Almost half an hour slower than the one he recorded twenty years earlier. I also believe it was his last live performance which was perhaps fitting for a man who's conducting career was partially launched by his playing of his own piano transcription of Mahler's 2nd symphony.


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## brunumb (Dec 8, 2017)

Glenn Gould - Mahler, Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection": IV Urlicht. "O Röschen rot!" - Maureen Forrester


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Urlicht - Gustav Mahler - George Solti - . Symphony No.2 'Resurrection': IV. Urlicht. - Mira Zakai


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## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

BachIsBest said:


> The slowest one! Almost half an hour slower than the one he recorded twenty years earlier. I also believe it was his last live performance which was perhaps fitting for a man who's conducting career was partially launched by his playing of his own piano transcription of Mahler's 2nd symphony.


Wow! Leave it to Klemperer. Amazing.


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