I have not heard this recording in years, yet it’s rather good, as re-visited in a faithful transfer on a Berlin Classics compact disc (BC 2119-2). As captured by Eterna in January 1957 in the Kreuzkirche, Leopold Ludwig (1908-79) leads a cohesive and unexaggerated – refreshing – account of Mahler 4 with Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra) that may be mono but is full-toned, detailed and dynamic. It could be said that Ludwig lets the music speak for itself – although he certainly knows what it is about and where it’s going, and his subtly affectionate touches don’t get in the way of direction, all over in fifty-one minutes. Excellent corporate and solo playing, seasoned to Mahler it seems, the slow movement, not dragged, is radiant and eloquent, and in the (here unsentimental) Finale Anny Schlemm (born 1929) is the soprano, soubrette-light in tone matched to mature musicianship; nimble too given Ludwig keeps things on the move.
From the Anderson Archive – No.8 – Leopold Ludwig records Mahler’s Fourth Symphony in Dresden for Eterna.
Here is yet another example of Colin’s talent for unearthing unexpected gems from the back catalogue. Prompted by his words, I have just been listening to that very recording of Mahler’s 4th and he’s spot on …. this is one of the most musically refreshing accounts of the work I’ve heard in decades. It reminded me of a performance that opened the 2015 Toblach Mahler Festival, when the Romanian National Youth Orchestra, no less, was conducted by Christian Mandeal. That reading was similarly direct, as well as full of endearing rustic detail. The Mahler scholar Henry-Louis de La Grange was present that evening and the following morning sent a note to the conductor saying how much pleasure he had derived from the performance. Leopold Ludwig’s interpretation could be said to be cut from similar cloth.