Gustav Mahler is widely recognized as an important composer, especially for his symphonies. I find it surprising that even among classical music aficionados there are many who have never listened to his orchestral song cycles. The three best (note that Das Lied von der Erde is an unnumbered symphony, not a song cycle) are collected on this CD, sung by baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (accompanied by the Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Rafael Kubelik), Kindertotenlieder and Rückert-Lieder (accompanied by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Karl Böhm. This Deutsche Grammophon CD is one of my desert island discs: the song cycles are among the best ever composed, and Fischer-Dieskau nails them from start to finish.
Copyright statement: posting album covers is deemed to be fair use.
