Christiane Karg

Scofield: Everyone will be fascinated to learn that even though Gustav Mahler died over a century ago, the great Austro-Bohemian romantic composer himself actually has accompanied you on a CD of his lieder. Now that’s pretty amazing! Can you explain the background to this milestone of musical recording history?

Karg: There is a rare technique of the Welte-Mignon piano that was invented in Freiburg, Germany. It’s a piano that plays itself, so it’s kind of a roll that is moving. Mahler recorded this kind of paper, which has little holes in it. Everybody had this kind of piano in the house because it was very popular. It was kind of a jukebox by then. Now it disappeared completely, I had no idea that this technique or this instrument is existing. I was on tour with Iván Fischer three years ago with his Budapest Festival Orchestra, I sang Mahler 4th and 2nd symphony with the orchestra, and he wanted me to sing, accompanied by the Welte-Mignon piano in one concert.

So I did the songs, Mahler played in the first half, and then we did the Mahler 4th symphony, Das himmlische Leben. I was in this dark room, it was raining, and this man came and put the machine on. It was very complicated, and then suddenly the music started to play, and it was Mahler himself playing. That was such a big moment for me that I will never forget. And I thought I want to have this on a recording, because everybody should know about this amazing machine that makes us going backwards, or makes Mahler coming to us almost in person. That was so special and I will never forget this moment. Others did it before, but it was very important that I have this on my records.

Scofield: Remarkable! The CD is called Erinnerung, and it’s all Mahler lieder. And I guess we should explain to our listeners, this mechanism is kind of like a player piano, which Mahler recorded the music, the piano part for these songs, which brings him alive when combined today with your vocal part. It’s simply extraordinary. What was it like to have Gustav Mahler as your accompanist?

Karg: Goosebumps from the first moment. I was really moved and very touched. As a ghost would play, so it was very strange. Also, because of the machine, when the music is on, or when the holes on this paper are getting smaller, turning faster, so you have to always adjust a little, with how fast it goes. So the speed is very difficult to get. There are also some wrong notes that have been played, because he had only one possibility and it was not meant as a concert. I think people just said to him, please sit down at the machine and play it for us, just as you are warming up. I think this is a very spontaneous recording that makes it even more lively, that there are wrong notes and the speed is just all over, and he’s not breathing because there was no singer. That made it quite difficult and I had to listen to it many, many times to mark it in my skull, where I have to hurry, or where I should not take a breath where I usually do with a conductor and in the symphony. So that was challenging, but very interesting.