Gustav MAHLER
Symphony No.5 in c sharp minor
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Andrew Litton
Dorian DOR-90193
[71.00]
Crotchet
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This "live" recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony dates from 1993 but has
come to me alongside two newer Mahler recordings by Andrew Litton. This was
the first collaboration between Litton and the Dallas Symphony following
his appointment as Musical Director and I have to say at the outset that
it would have been better if it had been left in the archives. The start
is not promising in that the funeral march needs more power and reach than
it gets here. What emerges is more wistful than tragic with no apparent idea
of great events being debated and an orchestra that appears to have little
idea of a Mahler sound. Then at the crucial "jump-off" at bar 155 (which
Mahler marks "Suddenly faster. Passionate. Wild") there's nowhere near enough
propulsion or drama to justify the composer's intentions. "Tentative" is
the word that springs to mind with the important violin runs half-hearted
too. Things don't improve. The return of the funeral material is
under-characterised and the plunging descent at the close (marked "Lamenting")
is a very damp squib. In the second movement the chattering woodwinds, so
evocative during bars 64-74 against lyrical lower strings, don't penetrate
the texture and the strings themselves hardly curl around their music like
they can be made to. A fault carried on with the "monody of the lamenting
cellos" at 188-213. More evidence of a lack of understanding of ebb and flow
in this symphony's special nature. Structurally Litton builds to the climax
of this movement quite well and the brass makes a fine noise, but nothing
that can remotely touch other versions of this work. This movement also exposes
an aspect of the sound recording that I didn't like. The lower registers
are a bit diffuse and hollow which tends to blunt the special sound of this
symphony further.
Mahler said that conductors would ruin the Scherzo by playing it too quickly.
A shrewd remark but I don't believe he would have liked to hear it played
so sluggishly as this. In passages of repose the performance seems to wander
about with no real impression anyone has much idea as to where things are
going or why. There is so much variation and interest to be found in this
amazing movement - the hub of the symphony's wheel - but Litton seems oblivious,
or unable to get the orchestra to reflect that. The Adagietto begins well
with a flowing tempo but I felt the strings, at least as they reproduce,
don't show evidence of the special mixture of nostalgia and tension Mahler
was aiming for here. Litton also slows down markedly in the second half,
more than I think Mahler's markings demand of him. By the last movement I'm
afraid all is lost and all that's worth reporting is that the notes appear
to be in the right place.
Any attempt at the subtle interplay of darkness and light, positive and negative
emotions in opposition, all so important in this work, are missing. This
is a lacklustre, dull and pedestrian recording that should have been quietly
forgotten about and from which no one emerges with much distinction.
Reviewer
Tony Duggan
Performance:
Recording:
