Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn - Tennstedt
Tower Records Definition Serie TDSA10017
Stereo Hybrid
Classical - Vocal
Lucia Popp (soprano)
Bernd Weikl (baritone)
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Klaus Tennstedt (conductor)
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Comment by DYB - January 7, 2025 (1 of 1)
I never owned this performance on regular disc and was very much looking forward to the SACD because I love Klaus Tennstedt, Lucia Popp, and Bernd Weikl. Unfortunately Weikl comes out like a bat out of hell: screaming, barking, and bellowing his way through every song. Too bad Tennstedt didn't tell him to calm down. Popp is lovely as always, and calms Weikl a bit in their duets, but he always returns to his deranged take on these songs when left to his own devices. For this reason, despite lovely singing from Popp and strong conducting from Tennstedt, this isn't a recording I'll return to very often. (Popp can be also heard in a contemporaneous DG recording with Leonard Bernstein and Andreas Schmidt, who will not fray your nerves.) As far as sound, since I never owned this 1985-86 digital recording in its original incarnation, I can't compare Tower Japan's transfer to SACD, but the sound is quite warm, clear, clean. The voices are maybe miked too close; a bit more distance would have helped Weikl's hysteria.)