Karen Cargill - Mahler: Lieder - The Scotsman

Any recording that couples Mahler's songs with those of his wife, Alma, is a potent concoction. Firstly, Alma's Fünf Lieder are as ravishing - possibly more so - than her husband's Rückert Lieder and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, all of which feature in these rich and radiant performances by Scots mezzo soprano Karen Cargill and pianist Simon Lepper. The other factor is the personal one - Mahler's initial insistence upon marriage that there was no room for another composer in a relationship and the one would have to be him. Thankfully he never fully supressed Alma, and we have these delicious songs- Straussian in parts - and these golden performances to prove it.