Review: Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan is a famous interpreter of not only Gustav Mahler but many other classical music composers and his many stints with the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra make up only one small part of his conductive retinue. Though it was Mahler's ninth that really made Karajan's name, this lesser-heard work documents another expressionistic interpellation by the maestro, whose handling of the suite's musicological contexts (incorporating directive elements from Mahler's influences, from Berg to Webern), and Scherzo style, is performed with phenomenal ease. Brasses resound brilliantly and brightly, and singer Christa Ludwig gives a stellar rendition of Mahler's concluding five lieder (art songs).
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