Product Review

This Mahler two is very odd, indeed. Boulez's way with this composer has always been transparent and vaguely clinical, but here, though details are exquisite and everything is polished and beautifully played, he has managed to drain much of the power from the work. From the very start---those low string grumbles---we feel as if drama is secondary, and that feeling does not abate as the work goes on. What is normally heart-wrenching is here matter-of-fact: the great final moments are preceded by an low-volume organ and the brass and chorus play and sing with what I can only call "reserve" or a "matte finish" when brilliance, thrust, and great brightness are called for. I can't imagine what Boulez was thinking about this apocalyptic work when he opted to deliver a mild performance of it. Soloists are excellent, as is all the singing and playing, but this will leave you wanting to hear Mahler's Second Symphony in a truly searing reading (in which case you should try Leonard Bernstein's on Sony). --Robert Levine