![\"\"](\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Mahler-Seated.jpg\" "\\"Mahler")
<\/a>Gustav Mahler<\/p><\/div>\n
However, there’s no more pro-Mahler blog in the blogosphere than VFTP, so we’re celebrating his birthday by offering a free download of a track from the Orchestra of the Swan’s recording of Schoenberg’s chamber transcriptions of Das Lied von der Erde<\/em> and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen<\/em>. On offer is the final song from the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen<\/em>, “Die zwei blauen Augen<\/em>,” sung by the great young English baritone, David Stout.<\/p>\n Click here to listen, or right click and select “save target as” to download.<\/p>\n UPDATE- Sadly, our free download offer has ended. Please keep keep visiting VFTP for future downloads and other giveaways.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The critics have rightly praised David to the skies for his beautiful singing of this incredible song cycle<\/p>\n If you want to celebrate Mahler’s birthday with some reading, you can explore the “Performer’s Perspective”<\/a> series, or learn more about this recording by visiting the Song of the Earth home page<\/a>. There you will find a number of essays about the pieces, player listings, reviews and program notes.<\/p>\n If we sell a few more copies of this disc, they’ll let us make the next volume, so if you enjoy the download, please treat yourself to a CD. The disc is available for purchase from all good CD shops and you can order online from:<\/p>\n Purchase here from Amazon.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Purchase here from Amazon.co.uk<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Purchase here from Arkiv<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Purchase here from Presto Classical\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Purchase here direct from Somm Recordings<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Critical Reaction to David Stout’s performance:<\/strong><\/p>\n January 2012-\u00a0MusicWeb International review by Dan Morgan<\/a>. \u201c<\/strong>\u200e\u201dIndeed, elegance is a good description of Woods\u2019 approach to these songs; he coaxes glorious sounds from his players and, thanks to a good recording and quiet audience, every nudge and nuance is easily heard. The aching loveliness of Die\u00a0zwei blauen Augen has seldom been so feelingly caught, those dragging rhythms so well judged. Crowning it all is Stout\u2019s fine-spun singing; really, this is a voice I would travel many miles to hear. I\u2019ve added him to my list of singers to watch. And if that\u2019s not enough, the beautifully-turned orchestral coda has a sustained, heart-stopping delicacy I\u2019ve rarely encountered in this oft-played song\u2026 supremely well-played and well-sung\u201d<\/p>\n September 2011-\u00a0Gramophone Magazine review by Ken Smith:<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cKenneth Woods leads the Orchestra of the Swan on a near-symphonic scale..\u00a0Last word, though, goes to the Orchestra of the Swan. In Schoenberg\u2019s less ambitions\u00a0Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen<\/em>\u00a0(not included on the Manchester recording), baritone David Stout\u2019s richly balanced performance easily stands out as the best thing on either disc.\u201d<\/p>\n July 2011-\u00a0MusicWeb-International review from Guy Aron:<\/a><\/strong>\u201cThis is a really distinguished Wayfarer cycle; the performance is beautifully played and sung, and has an unerring focus on and sensitivity to the text\u2026.”<\/p>\n July 2011-\u00a0International Record Review gives an \u201cIRR OUTSTANDING Rating\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>Critic\u00a0Robert Matthew-Walker<\/a>\u00a0calls it an\u00a0\u201cabsolutely astonishing recording in many respects,\u201d<\/strong><\/em>and concludes by reminding readers that\u00a0\u201cThis is a most important issue, and all Mahlerians should make its acquisition an urgent necessity.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
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