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Title: Amazingly fresh and vital
Review: For years the Gramophone, among other sources of critical approval, has recommended a cautious, enervated Mahler Fourth by Maazel and the vienna Phil., also on Sony. This first Bernstein reading from New York, recorded in 1960, has been passed over, and yet it is amazingly fresh and exciting. Unfortunately, the Fourth has become, as one reviewer said, a lyrical intermezzo positioned between greater works, yet in Bernstein's hands it shines as an extension of the magical world of the Third Symphony, dreamlike and enchanted, full of wonder and spiritual intenisty. I hadn't listend to it for some years, and a recent reacquaintance reminded me that Bernstien earned his credentials as a Maherian, not by extroverted emotion but by having constant insights into Mahler's musical idiom. A great reading, arguably the greatest on disc.
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