The second movement suffers from a curious detachment that is at odds with the nature of the music. The village fiddler's tune is robbed of its sarcasm when played in such a subdued manner, with muted colors from the orchestra, and weighed down by Boulez's inflexible tempo. The adagio, on the other hand, is wonderfully serene. Boulez pays special attention to the string portamentos that accent the dramatic passages (which the Clevelanders play with a generously singing tone). When the main theme returns in 3/4 time, Boulez's quicker tempo is (for once) perfectly balanced against the rapid accelerando that follows. Ideally judged tempo relationships make the finale sound less like an interrupted lullaby and more like the child-in-heaven song it was intended to be. Juliane Banse's singing has a beautiful knowing quality, though I must admit a preference for the childlike wonder of Barbara Hendricks in her radiant performance with Esa-Pekka Salonen on Sony Classical. Deutsche Grammophon's clear, impactful, and realistic recording is one of the best they've made in Cleveland. For the familiar approach, Bernstein (DG), Salonen, and Levi (Telarc) are the modern exemplars, but Boulez, starting with a clean sheet of paper, offers a wonderfully convincing alternative.

--Victor Carr, ClassicsToday.com