Mahler - Symphonies 9 And 10, Das Lied Von Der Erde / Leonard Bernstein, Christa Ludwig, Rene Kollo, Wiener Philharmoniker, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

Filmed on tour at Berlin's Philharmonic, this account of the valedictory Ninth Symphony is an intense interpretation, expressing Bernstein's conviction that modern man had at last caught up with the message encoded in Mahler's last completed work. Having made his famous 1966 studio recording of Das Lied von der Erde in Vienna, Bernstein re-recorded this in Israel with the same searing subjectivity. Ren?ollo draws on the voice of a great Wagner tenor, while Christa Ludwig, the greatest exponent of the contralto songs at the time, is unbearably poignant in the final movement's fusion of elation an sadness.