What the Universe Tells Me - Unraveling the Mysteries of Mahler's Third Symphony / Stockard Channing, Thomas Hampson
Magnificent!What the Universe Tells Meis probably the deepest, most painstakingly detailed but also approachable attempt to decipher the inner dynamics of a  complex work of art ever entrusted to any recording medium. And  Mahler's Third Symphony deserves such careful. loving attention;  one of the many commentators in this production calls it an attempt  "to capture the human condition in a work  of music." All  the commentators contribute precious insights from their  specialized disciplines to help viewers see this masterpiece whole.   Besides Stockard Channing, the primary narrator, and Thomas Hampson, who discusses the music and sings a song whose melody  is an important element in the symphony's structure, commentators include Henry Louis de la Grange, author of the definitive  Mahler biography, and a fine array of musicologists, music historians, philosophers, and a theologian. A theologian? Yes; this symphony is, among other things, a vast theological stattement about man's place in the universe. Philosophers are needed, too, to explore Mahler's relations to Nietzsche and Schopenhauer. But they all do it in easy-to-understand terms.Mahler gave six working titles to the symphony's movements: "Pan Awakes; Summer Marches In"; "What the Flowers in the Meadow Tell Me"; "What the Animals in the Forest Tell Me"; "What Humanity Tells  Me"; "What the Angels Tell Me"; and "What Love Tells Me." These  were left out when he published the symphony, but they give useful  hints to the commentators and justify some breathtaking visuals  shown with the music: landscapes, flowers, paintings and sculptures  and churches.The music, of course, is magnificent, and it is presented twice on two discs, once with voice-over commentary and once in a live, unedited performance. Special features include 11 "mini-documentaries" on subjects related to the music.--Joe McLellan