Incredibly, the world's greatest living conductor is getting better as he gets older. It's true --
Claudio Abbado, whose combination of effortless technique, lucid textures, and luminous tone coupled with his endless love for music has made him the preeminent conductor of our time, has only gotten better with age.
Abbado's first
Mahler's Fourth from 1978 is beautifully played by the
Vienna Philharmonic, radiantly sung by
Frederica von Stade, and joyously conducted by the young Maestro at the first peak of his powers. After his successful years with the
Berlin Philharmonic and especially after some health problems,
Abbado's second
Mahler's Fourth from 2005 is extraordinarily spiritually led by the old Master at the peak of his interpretative abilities. His fluent technique is even more refined, but
Abbado now seems more relaxed and thus more expressive than before, allowing and even encouraging portamento and vibrato. His lucid textures are less contrapuntal now and more flowing and his luminous lines are more lyrical and even more luminous. And his endless love of music -- and of life -- has infused the performance with a tangible sense of transcendence. The
Berlin Philharmonic responds to its former music director with obvious affection and consummate artistry. Some listeners might find that
Renée Fleming is too ironically maternal for the child's view of heaven that closes the symphony, but no listener will complain that
Fleming is anything less than incandescently erotic in
Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder that closes the disc. Deutsche Grammophon's live sound is entirely translucent.