SOMM RECORDINGS announces Mahler Pioneers, a major addition to theMahler catalogue with first commercial releases of historic performancesof Das klagende Lied, Symphony No.4, and the...

SOMM RECORDINGS announces Mahler Pioneers, a major addition to the
Mahler catalogue with first commercial releases of historic performances
of Das klagende Lied, Symphony No.4, and the Adagio from the Tenth
Symphony.
The two-disc set also features interviews with the legendary conductor
Leopold Stokowski and former New York Philharmonic Orchestra
timpanist Alfred Friese about their memories of Mahler in rehearsal.
Recorded live in London’s Royal Festival Hall on 13 May 1956, Das klagende
Lied is heard in its first-ever British performance with Walter Goehr
conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, Goldsmiths’ Choral Union
and three luxury soloists: soprano Joan Sutherland – most probably the
only known document of her singing Mahler – tenor Peter Pears, and
contralto Norma Procter.
Symphony No.4 was performed by Goehr, again with the LSO, and
soprano Teresa Stich-Randall on 9 February 1960 as part of that year’s
Mahler centenary celebrations. Before the year was out, the committed
Mahlerian Goehr was dead. The Tenth Symphony’s Adagio dates from
21 November 1948, with Hermann Scherchen conducting the BBC
Symphony Orchestra, anticipating Scherchen’s recorded survey of
Mahler’s symphonies in the 1950s.
Two revealing, never before issued interviews with Stokowski in 1970 and
Friese in 1962, offer candid recollections of encounters with Mahler. Mahler
Pioneers has been curated by historic recordings specialist Jon Tolansky,
who also provides insightful and authoritative booklet notes.
SOMM’s reputation for historic recordings is unmatched, its four-volume
Vaughan Williams Live series (ARIADNE 5016, 5018, 5019-2, 5020), Beecham
Conducts Sibelius (5013) and R. Strauss (5021) garnering widespread acclaim.
Previous Mahler recordings on SOMM include Das Lied von der Erde with
Kathleen Ferrier, and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Bruno
Walter (ARIADNE 5007), and Das Lied von der Erde and Lieder eines fahrenden
Gesallen with the Orchestra of the Swan (SOMMCD 0109).