BERNARDA FINK
Mahler Lieder (Harmonia Mundi)
Argentinian mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink’s new recording of songs by Gustav Mahler is a mesmerizing cabinet of curiosities.
The music on the album is very familiar, featuring the Kindertotenlieder and several Rückert-Lieder as the anchors. But what is less familiar are the means with which Fink and her collaborators engage the listener like a tractor beam from beginning to end.
It all starts with Fink’s rich voice, still flexible but bolstered with decades of experience and a deep musicality now that she is in her late 50s.
Mahler demands (often in detailed explanations in the score) utmost dedication to clear emotional expression. Fink excels, treating each song as a mini opera, with her as the leading storyteller.
The icing on this musical cake comes from collaborators Anthony Spiri at the piano, conductor Andrés Orosco-Estrada and the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich.
Spiri is elegance itself, a co-equal with the mezzo. Orosco-Estrada alternates between Mahler’s original orchestrations and Arnold Schönberg’s chamber reductions, with a musical aesthetic focused on simple, direct communication.
The results are very compelling and, in several instances, bracingly fresh and modern.
You can find more information about the album at Harmonia Mundi’s frustrating website: here.
John Terauds