This is a very nice recording of Mahler’s early songs, culminating in his first great song cycle, the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer). It’s performed by an accomplished group of singers and the British pianist Joseph Middleton, whose sensitive musicianship provides a strong anchor for this second volume in Signum’s survey of Mahler Lieder.

Among the singers, top marks go to the Austrian mezzo Sophie Rennert, who is consistently strong in all the selections assigned to her. She opens the recording with the charming Frühlingsmorgen, displaying her velvety, burnished instrument and precise diction. Rennert’s command of colour and dynamics are most apparent in the delicate Ich ging mit Lust durch einen grünen Wald, and she gives it a lovely conversational quality. She switches into a more emphatic gear in Hans und Grete and the martial Aus! Aus!, in which she articulates a woundedness born of rejection, one of Mahler’s eternal themes. 

German soprano Katharina Konradi makes quite the impression in Ablösung im Sommer, her silvery instrument evoking a cuckoo call in this light-hearted reflection on transience. Winterlied, about the changing of the seasons, is given a richly characterised reading, Konradi’s voice particularly lovely here. Um schlimme Kinder artig zu machen, or “How to make naughty children behave”, sees her take up a cuckoo call again in what is a surprisingly layered story. 

Mauro Peter is in possession of a very nice lyric tenor, beautifully produced and sensitively wielded. Take Im Lenz, for instance, which demonstrates an admirable attention to detail and ability to sing with a sense of spontaneity. He is particularly impressive in Zu Strassburg auf der Schanz, a bleak soldier’s ballad about desertion and impending execution. This is song of remarkable dramatic economy, and Peter more than rises to the challenge, singing with dignity and pathos. He is similarly engaging in Serenade aus Don Juan, which he imbues with a sense of compulsion and restlessness.  

Finally, British baritone Simon Keenlyside brings his characteristic musical intelligence to Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. The song cycle marks the first time Mahler set his own words to music, drawing on his experience of unrequited love for the soprano Johanna Richter in this journey from infatuation to heartbreak and eventual disillusionment. Keenlyside’s voice is now weathered, the upper register no longer as easily accessed as it once was – the difficult, sustained passages in the third song, Ich hab’ ein glühend Messer, reveal some of the effort involved. However, his dramatic instincts remain totally intact, and this is a persuasive, assured account of a familiar piece. His sensitivity to Mahler’s complex emotional landscape is matched only by Middleton, whose playing is particularly distinguished here. The pianist effectively captures the intimate nature of these songs as well as the orchestral scope innate to Mahler’s songs. Together, they bring this recording to a satisfying conclusion. 

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Composer: Mahler
Works: Songs of Youth and Awakening
Performers: Katharina Konradi s, Sophie Rennert ms, Mauro Peter t, Simon Keenlyside bar, Joseph Middleton p
Label: Signum SIGCD1006