MAHLER, G.: Symphony No. 6, "Tragic" / Piano Quartet in A minor

Album review

Recording has long been recognized as part of the lifeblood of symphony orchestras; in terms of publicity, satisfying the needs of patrons, and spreading the gospel about orchestras of high caliber, nothing beats a good recording. When the bottom fell out at BMG Classics in 1999, the illustrious Philadelphia Orchestra found itself without a recording contract for the first time since 1917, and surprised everyone in the industry by briefly recording with budget stalwart Naxos before moving onto an arrangement with Finnish label Ondine. This option has worked out well, as Ondine is capable of delivering better sound and more attractive kinds of packaging than the Philadelphia Orchestra could expect even at BMG. This Ondine issue featuring Christoph Eschenbach and the Philadelphia in the SACD format is no exception to either of these attributes.
Eschenbach's only previous Mahler symphony recording is one made of the Symphony No. 1, "Titan," with the Houston Symphony, and his rendering of the Symphony No. 6 in A minor, "Tragic," with the Philadelphia Orchestra, is the first the orchestra has ever made of this work. Overall, this symphony is just a tad longer than the average length of a CD, and while some conductors with speedy tastes for certain movements within are able to deliver performances that fit on a single disc, the established norm is to divide the long Finale: Allegro moderato off to a second disc, and perhaps find some filler. The filler here is an interesting choice, Mahler's early and not frequently recorded Piano Quintet in A minor. Eschenbach is an excellent pianist and is superb in chamber music, and not surprisingly this is a strong performance -- perhaps its main competition is a recording led by Ralf Gothoni, also found on Ondine.
Eschenbach uses the lighter, revised version of the Symphony No. 6, but elects to retain Mahler's original movement plan, which places the Scherzo before the Andante moderato movement. This may be in part to showcase the Andante moderato in particular, as Eschenbach takes this movement much slower than most, clocking in at 17 and a half minutes. The remainder reflects average timings; however, the pace of the Scherzo is almost identical to that of Allegro energico, and the two movements are shaped here as though cut of the same cloth. Eschenbach's reading of the Sixth is steady, cool, controlled, and a little conservative -- don't expect any of the explosive and tragic histrionics one finds in long-heralded interpretations of the Mahler Sixth by John Barbirolli or Jascha Horenstein. If one does not have a recording of the Sixth already, Ondine's Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 6 would be an excellent choice, as it very clearly transmits Mahler's score with a minimum of fuss and a certain degree of elegance. Only problem is that it enters into a rather crowded field -- not only is there an SFS Media version led by Michael Tilson Thomas that comes highly touted, but there are already a half-dozen SACD versions of the Mahler Sixth available. Nevertheless, some hardcore Mahler fanciers can never own too many versions of the Sixth, and while some of them, with the perversity typical to Mahler nuts, might feel that the symphony is merely serving as filler to this excellent recording of the Piano Quintet, this will still come as good news to Ondine and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

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