Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Album review

Simon Rattle's 2002 live recording of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor was assembled from several concerts in September of that year, so the resulting performance on disc has a slightly variable quality between movements, which can be detected in the levels of the Berlin Philharmonic's enthusiasm. The overall playing is good, but the orchestra seems somewhat diffuse and desultory in the first two movements, and most vigorously engaged in the last three. How much editing within movements occurred is difficult to guess, though if the unexpected changes of tempo and odd dynamic levels of the "Trauermarsch" and the "Stürmisch bewegt" are any indication, there was probably some sonic surgery performed there. The cogent feeling of the rest of the symphony suggests that the playing was all of a piece and up to expected levels, with only the barest suggestion of the earlier flagging of energy. This recording is certainly fine for study purposes, and possibly good for a beginner's first hearing of this symphony, but it's hard to rate it much higher because of its strange episodes of languid playing. Furthermore, as solid as Rattle is in most repertoire, his Mahler is not as coherent, vibrant, or exciting as many other conductors' renditions on the market, and listeners need not settle for this interpretation of the Symphony No. 5 with dozens of great recordings readily available.
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