BaL 18.06.16 - Mahler: Symphony no. 5

[Pulcinella]

Another not discussed but which has given me a great deal of pleasure over the years is the RLPO/Mackerras account .

That and the Barbirolli are the two versions on my shelves.

[BBMmk2]

Don't think Barbirolli was mentioned?

[Cockney Sparrow]

Neumann recorded Mahler 5 with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1966 and presumably that was the extract played (I didn't hear the programme). I have it on the Philips label. His later recording with the Czech Philharmonic from 1977 is a fine, forthright performance, qualities that are apparent in their Resurrection too. I got both very cheaply on the Supraphon Gem label many years ago and haven't played either for absolutely ages.

Both the Berlin Classics and the other are on Naxos Music Library (NML) but with no info except that shown on the cover image. There is a maximum of 3 seconds variance in movements (exactly the same in one) and overall timings are 01:05:25 Berlin Classics; 01:05:15 Philips (Looks like Phillips but categorised as Decca - interesting to me, as NML doesn't carry Phillips as a label). The Phillips cover says Digitally remastered but no further details. (I've also listed quite a number of recordings of Mahler 5 on the NML thread in Talking about Music / The Reference Library section).

[Bryn]

Both the Berlin Classics and the other are on Naxos Music Library (NML) but with no info except that shown on the cover image. There is a maximum of 3 seconds variance in movements (exactly the same in one) and overall timings are 01:05:25 Berlin Classics; 01:05:15 Philips (Looks like Phillips but categorised as Decca - interesting to me, as NML doesn't carry Phillips as a label). The Phillips cover says Digitally remastered but no further details. (I've also listed quite a number of recordings of Mahler 5 on the NML thread in Talking about Music / The Reference Library section).

The CD I have of this recording comes from a mix and match collection of the 9 completed Mahler Symphonies as licenced to Brilliant Classics. The set also includes such treasures as the Unicorn Горенштейн 3rd.

[Nick Armstrong]

I was very into Mahler 5 at that point and I played that JB cd over and over again.

So was I - the first Mahler I got into aged 18 after a couple of years of full DSCH immersion. That double-cassette boxset got some real punishment in the late 1970s!

I regretted Barbirolli's absence from this survey, and Kubelik (top of the whole pile in the French critics' 'tribunal' programme - see #11 above), and Tennstedt (the 1988 live one preferably, with yours truly absorbing some of the soundwaves). Glad the Venezuelans got honourable mentions though; and I was very impressed with the Leinsdorf Adagietto - didn't sound at all hurried to me, I'm very much over the slow approach (although the Haitink / BPO sounded phenomenally well recorded - incredible detail, you could hear people talking outside the recording venue at the start of the movement!).

In the wake of the French programme, I 'went off' the Bernstein performance, having done some comparisons of my own between it and the new acquisitions which resulted from that programme.

I must give it another listen. Like Pet, I was there in 1987 for the Prom, in a very advantageous Arena position - it was absolutely overwhelming, one of the best concerts ever, so that combination does pack a big punch. Or at least it did when I was 25...

[akiralx]

Don't think Barbirolli was mentioned?

I have it on SACD - an enjoyable version, but II is clearly not 'Moving stormily, with the greatest vehemence'...

[Pulcinella]

That and the Barbirolli are the two versions on my shelves.

Correction, as I cannot tell a lie!


I also have the BBC MM release (Volume I, Number 9): BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra (sic) conducted by Tadaaki Otaka, recorded at St David's Hall, Cardiff, on 27 April 1991.

[gurnemanz]

I've got the "wrong" Bernstein (New York on his big Sony symphony box) and will probably need to upgrade.

[akiralx]

I regretted Barbirolli's absence from this survey, and Kubelik (top of the whole pile in the French critics' 'tribunal' programme - see #11 above)

I listened to the DG Kubelik over the weekend, and am mystified how it could be considered a top choice - the hard thin recording and rather subpar playing rules it out of court for me whatever the merits of RK's interpretation. I listened to a few of the other symphonies in fact and can't help feeling that it has really been superseded as a cycle generally.

[johnb]

.... I was brought up on Barbirolli like many on this thread and have a soft spot for it. I'm glad I kept a copy of the 2012 Proms performance by the Pittsburgh Orchestra and Honeck - my favourite at the moment.

Thanks for mentioning the Honeck Proms performance, I'll have a listen to it over the next couple of days. (Wasn't it 2011 Prom 68, with Wagner's Lohengrin Act 1 Prelude and Rihm's Gesungene Zeit also on the programme?)

[Petrushka]

Thanks for mentioning the Honeck Proms performance, I'll have a listen to it over the next couple of days. (Wasn't it 2011 Prom 68, with Wagner's Lohengrin Act 1 Prelude and Rihm's Gesungene Zeit also on the programme?)

Yes that's the one. I was present that evening and after a few dud Mahler 5's at the Proms this was an absolute cracker.

[Barbirollians]

I have listened again to the Mackerras RLPO recording . It is a very fine performance with what strike me as pretty central tempos for each movement . Powerful in the first and third movements , a beautifully flowing Adagietto and a joyful finale . Well worth getting .

RLPO play out of their skins .

[BBMmk2]

Someone was saying to me that the first movement of this fantastic work, would be great for concert band! I am thinking......

[Bryn]

Someone was saying to me that the first movement of this fantastic work, would be great for concert band! I am thinking......

[visualnickmos]

I have listened again to the Mackerras RLPO recording . It is a very fine performance with what strike me as pretty central tempos for each movement . Powerful in the first and third movements , a beautifully flowing Adagietto and a joyful finale . Well worth getting .

RLPO play out of their skins .

Yes - a 'knock-out' recording - doesn't seem to have had a mention on BaL, but I found it in a junk shop in France for 1 Euro! so doubly happy! It's a pity Charles Mackerras didn't record more Mahler. One can't help feeling they could have become top-drawer recordings.....