Everyone who loves Mahler should hear this 1939 recording of his Symphony No. 4 by Willem Mengelberg conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra with soprano Jo Vincent. Not only was Mengelberg one of the greatest conductors of the first half of the twentieth century, he was a close friend of Mahler's and one his favorites interpreters of his music. This Fourth is the only extant recording of a complete Mahler symphony led by Mengelberg and, love it or loathe it, it remains one of the touchstones of Mahler conducting. Certainly, the tempos, the rubato, the glissando, the phrasing, the balances, and the colors are radically different from anything that has been recorded in the past 50 years. And while these changes may seem hopelessly weird to later listeners, there is no doubt that Mengelberg's interpretation is just as valid as those of Bruno Walter and Otto Klemperer, both of whom were also great conductors and great friends of Mahler. But while everyone who loves Mahler should hear this recording, they should not hear this exact incarnation of this recording. The sound of this disc is small, gray, dull, and distant, as if all joy and life had been squeezed from it and all that was left was a recording with the lucidity of bubblegum. ~ James Leonard, All Music Guide
