Mahler: Symphony No.5

[Nick Armstrong]

Great minds Ams !

Cheers Barbie and Ams for your perfect stereo coordination!!

[amateur51]

Great minds Ams !

[richardfinegold]

I first heard the 1947 Walter performance a few weeks ago when I had purchased the Walter Sony Box. It does have a rightness about it that I find in all of Walter's Mahler.
My personal favorite in modern sound is split between the NYP Bernstein and the SACD MTT/SFSO. The latter does have a prolonged adigietto, but I think that MTT maintains the intensity in the slow tempo.

[Wensleydale Blue]

So, would I be right in thinking that Mahler stopped being recorded after about 1980! Don’t get me wrong, some of these ancient recordings are amongst my favourites too – the live Tennstedt for sure, although I find Lenny’s VPO a bit ponderous at times and not that well recorded, but there must be a few more modern versions that people enjoy. The ones that I listen to the most are Inbal’s idiosyncratic Frankfurter recording on Denon and Chailly’s with the RCO, both of which have superb modern sound, as does Shipway’s much neglected but rather fine RPO version on their own label. I also have Rattle’s divisive BPO 5th version with its controlled brass and lovely string playing and an interestingly lush version by Saraste. The boxed set version by Bertini aint half bad and the Kondrashin M5 has crackingly raucous horns in the to be expected Russian fashion. The ones that I’d say stay away from are those by Zinman, Gatti and Dohnanyi, which don’t seem to add much to my listening experience.

Interestingly this was the first Mahler that I really got to love and, last year, I am a bit ashamed to say, it was the first that I had the pleasure of hearing live – The BBC Phil under Mena at the Bridgewater Hall, and I wasn’t disappointed one bit. I do envy all you Octogenarians who remember well a proms concert with such and such in 1964!

[Richard Tarleton]

I do envy all you Octogenarians who remember well a proms concert with such and such in 1964!

Less of the octo, sexa will do!

[Barbirollians]

I am a VPO Lenny fan too . WAlter in 1947 next and I have recently had a conversion to the Barbirolli/NPO which I had found less thrilling in the past probably because it was a bit more mainstream than his 6 and 9

[amateur51]

So, would I be right in thinking that Mahler stopped being recorded after about 1980! Don’t get me wrong, some of these ancient recordings are amongst my favourites too – the live Tennstedt for sure, although I find Lenny’s VPO a bit ponderous at times and not that well recorded, but there must be a few more modern versions that people enjoy. The ones that I listen to the most are Inbal’s idiosyncratic Frankfurter recording on Denon and Chailly’s with the RCO, both of which have superb modern sound, as does Shipway’s much neglected but rather fine RPO version on their own label. I also have Rattle’s divisive BPO 5th version with its controlled brass and lovely string playing and an interestingly lush version by Saraste. The boxed set version by Bertini aint half bad and the Kondrashin M5 has crackingly raucous horns in the to be expected Russian fashion. The ones that I’d say stay away from are those by Zinman, Gatti and Dohnanyi, which don’t seem to add much to my listening experience.

Interestingly this was the first Mahler that I really got to love and, last year, I am a bit ashamed to say, it was the first that I had the pleasure of hearing live – The BBC Phil under Mena at the Bridgewater Hall, and I wasn’t disappointed one bit. I do envy all you Octogenarians who remember well a proms concert with such and such in 1964!

Don't fret Wensley, music continues to reveal its treasures in the here-and-now, and in twenty years you'll be recalling that Mena performance and many others to come I hope

[teamsaint]

Not everything gets worse, WB.
Back in the day, if you wanted to buy a set of Mahler Symphonies, you needed to negotiate easy terms with the local vinyl baron, borrow a morris Oxford to get them home, and then start saving for a gramophone to play them on.

Edit: Back on topic, I have an anonymous tape of a version of #5. Would be interesting to know who it is.....

If anybody was that interested , and expert enough , I could copy it and post it to them !!

[Nick Armstrong]

you needed to negotiate easy terms with the local vinyl baron, borrow a morris Oxford to get them home

[Petrushka]

No-one has mentioned Karajan yet. Richard Osborne was fairly dismissive about his recording of the 5th calling it (from memory) 'an expert run-through' but I think it is a good deal better than that. However, we are badly in need of recordings of Karajan's live Mahler which was something else again. I particularly recall R3 broadcasts of the 5th and 6th from Salzburg in 1978. My off-air tapes went long ago, alas, and I am surprised that these haven't resurfaced as commercial releases.

[JFLL]

No-one has mentioned Karajan yet.

Or Sinopoli. I bought it in the charity shop today for 50p, but haven't heard it yet. Is it awful? (I also got the Szell Mahler 4 also for 50p., which they say isn't awful at all.]

[Barbirollians]

Or Sinopoli. I bought it in the charity shop today for 50p, but haven't heard it yet. Is it awful? (I also got the Szell Mahler 4 also for 50p., which they say isn't awful at all.]

The Szell 4 is a classic of the gramophone !

[Petrushka]

Or Sinopoli. I bought it in the charity shop today for 50p, but haven't heard it yet. Is it awful? (I also got the Szell Mahler 4 also for 50p., which they say isn't awful at all.]

No not awful at all. Not in the Lenny class, perhaps, and I think the fairly early digital sound has a glassy edge to it but ok for all of that. It's a good few years since I last heard it so can't recall much more. Committed Mahlerian as I am, I'm ashamed to report that I've never heard the Szell Mahler 4 .

[Bryn]

For a truly awful Mahler 5, may I offer:



Which I paid a small quantity of good money for in an Oxfam shop some years ago.

[Nick Armstrong]