[etcarroll]

Went to the Symphony today, Haydn's 100th and Mahler's 5th.

The Haydn was good, but Mahler blew me away.

So, what are people's favorite recordings of the 5th?

[canzld]

You're probably going to get a wide range of viewpoints here - but I've always retained a soft spot for John Barbirolli's classic version with the New Philharmonia, while many like Bernstein's Mahler, which tends to the dramatic by inclination. I also admire Klaus Tennstedt with the LSO, in fact his Mahler as a whole.

[canzld]

I meant to ask - who did you hear?

[etcarroll]

The Philadelphia Orchestra


http://www.philorch.org/pdfs/prognotes/1011_web09.pdf

[BobMajor]

Of all the ones I've heard the most convincing is Benjamin Zander on Telarc. He just seems to get it right without being rote or boring.

[Ericus Rex]

Is the Zander/Telarc an SACD like his 6th?

I have several versions on LP but usually just put in the Bernstein CD.

[canzld]

The Philadelphia Orchestra


http://www.philorch.org/pdfs/prognotes/1011_web09.pdf

nice- and even conducted by a fellow Canuck. We have the 5th coming up later this season (Toronto SO) with our resident conductor Peter Oundjian

[Hifibone]

Interpretively and for beauty of sound the Chally/RCO (Decca) tops my list. Once in a while I like the raw power of the earlier Abbado recording w/Chicago (DG).

I bet there's a lot of excitement in Philly with Nézet-Séguin's arrival. I've only heard him through his ATMA recordings from Montreal. How was the Haydn and Mahler in person?

-hifibone

[BobMajor]

Is the Zander/Telarc an SACD like his 6th?

I have several versions on LP but usually just put in the Bernstein CD.

It's a hybrid SACD:
http://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symphony-No-5-Gustav/dp/B00005Q46J/ref=sr_1_8?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1288967532&sr=1-8

[etcarroll]

Exquisite. Especially the 5th. I'm going to comb through the used CDs at PREX this Sunday to look for a copy listed in this thread. It's a good thing they played the Haydn piece first, it was good, but couldn't have followed the 5th.

I left the house ready to kill my 15 year old son, and returned home in a better frame of mind.

I told him he owes his life to Mahler's 5th.

Interpretively and for beauty of sound the Chally/RCO (Decca) tops my list. Once in a while I like the raw power of the earlier Abbado recording w/Chicago (DG).

I bet there's a lot of excitement in Philly with Nézet-Séguin's arrival. I've only heard him through his ATMA recordings from Montreal. How was the Haydn and Mahler in person?

-hifibone

[schubert]

I'd vote for the Philadelphia Orchestra (download from their site with Eschenbach conducting)

[rajacat]

I'd vote for the Philadelphia Orchestra (download from their site with Eschenbach conducting)

Too bad they don't offer FLAC downloads for the same price.

-Roy

[etcarroll]

Picked up a lot of Mahler's works this past Sunday, but couldn't find the SACD version mentioned earlier, but I see it on Amazon, so I'll order that. I did find, for only $1.99;

Mahler: Symphony No .5
Gustav Mahler (Composer), Eliahu Inbal (Conductor), Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

[jeffreybehr]

Good ol' Gustav wrote my FAVORITE music; I've heard his symphonies hundreds of times and have traveled to LA to hear the LAP and to the Grand Teton Music Festival to hear the Resurrection and again to Wyoming to hear the 3rd.  I LOVE the way Bernstein plays the strings very powerfully on the down-going melodies at the end of the Adagietto*, and I can't tolerate performances of the 5th (or of any Mahler symphony) that are flacid.  After hearing Zander's TELARC performance** of the 6th, NOT one of my favorite Mahler symphonies, I'll soon be buying his TELARC recording of the 5th.

All that said, my current fave of the 5th is by Frank Shipway and the Royal PO on Membran, SACD #222845 203.  The recording is from the '90s, PCM I'm sure, but it's a VERY good performance and recording.  My 'Membran' multichannel (NOT 'multi-channel') SACD is the one with the artsy-fartsy flowers pic on the front.

Here are some reviews including mine.   

http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reiews/t/tri00096a.php

http://www.sa-cd.net/showreviews/3244

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symphony-No-5-Gustav/dp/B000AAVCY8

* arguably one of the most-beautiful pieces of music God has ever written thru the hand of man
** with the Philharmonia, one of THREE world-class orchestras resident in London, the others being the Royal and the LPO

[egidius]

I love Barbirolli, not least in the reissue on CD. I've come away from SACD, had a Wadia 781, waiting for a W S7i now, with an ML 390S as a wonderful intermediary.
And very special are Gielen's versions, as they are extremely sarcastic!
Also to hear David Zinman with Zurich Tonhalle.
egidius

[jeffreybehr]

Prompted by my recall of this thread, this evening I had a Mahler-5 minifestival at my house.  I listened to all 6 of my recordings but to the Adagietto only.  The six are definitely different, in performance, recording quality, and orchestral playing. 

The contenders are, alphabetically by conductor:
...Bernstein conducting the Vienna PO, DG CD #423 608 2;
...Haenchen, Harmut, conducting the Netherlands PO, PentaTone SACD #PTC 5186 004
...Inoue, Michiyashi, conducting the Royal PO, RPO Records CD #CDRPO 7011
...Litton, Andrew, conducting the Dallas SO, Dorian CD #DOR-90193
...Shipway, Frank, conducting the Royal PO, Membran SACD #222845-203
...Tilson Thomas conducting the San Francisco SO, SFO SACD #821936-0012-2   

Timings of the Adagiettos are:
...Bernstein 11:13
...Haenchen 8:54
...Inoue 11:36
...Litton 9:57
...Shipway 12:25
...TT 10:49

Recording quality.  The first thing that struck me was that DG’s was head and shoulders the WORST here.  The violins were usually hard and strident, and the harp was VERY closely miced and placed dead center and IN MY FACE.  HORRIBLE.  The best probably was PentaTone’s where the perspective was just right...not too close, not too distant, with nice hall sound and excellent transparency.  The SFO was a little more distant but very natural--nice.  The best-sounding CD was the RPO with gorgeous orchestral sound and a very natural perspective.  The Litton was OK.  Only DG’s was BAD; don’t any of the DG producers and/or engineers and/or conductors LISTEN to them?

Performance.  Here my favorite again is Shipway’s.  He obviously LOVES this work and doesn’t want it to end too quickly.  Tempos are definitely slower as he lovingly caresses each phrase, but I never got the feeling that they were too slow.  He, along with Bernstein, pushes the dynamics both ways, to the point that the 4 other conductors seemed rather passive about that.  Inuoe was nicely slow and played actively; he too loves this piece.  Litton was a bit casual-–he just doesn’t push and pull this movement the way I love it to be played.

My least favorite?  Bernstein’s recording and Litton’s casualness; both CDs are leaving my collection.  If anyone wants them for $3 each for postage or $5 for both, e-mail me at jeffreybehr(at)cox(dot)net.

My favorite?  Still Shipway, but Inoue and TT are close.

Finally, how can I judge the whole symphony on one of five movements?  Easy–the Adagietto is the heart of this work for me.  If they get that right, they get the whole thing right.

BTW after hearing Zander’s 6th, I ordered his 5th and 3rd today.

[etcarroll]

Very thorough overview of various 5ths, thanks.

Last Sunday I drove from SE PA to Boston, and back Tuesday night,  with a stop in Princeton NJ to shop for Mahler CDs, picked up;

6th and 9th - Zander
1st and 3rd - Mehta on London w/IPO
2nd - Solti on London w/Chicago Sym.
4th - Szell on CBS MAsterworks w/Cleveland Orch.
7th - Haitink on Philips w/Concertgebouw Amst.

And my main reason for going;

5th - Inba on Denon w/Frankfurt Radio Sym.

This 5th is good, but doesn't resonate as the actual live version did, nor should it have on my OEM Chevy speakers. Still, the pace of the 3rd movement seemed off. Now the 2 Zander CDs were quite good, even in the car, so I think I'll be ordering the SACD version of the 5th with Zander conducting.

[Ericus Rex]

Jeffrey and ET:  Do post your impressions of Zander's 5th after you've had a few listens.  I have his version of the 6th.  While it's very good I still prefer my Boulez copy.  Very interested to hear your thoughts on #5.

Zander did the complete Mahler sympony cycle a few years ago here in Boston with the Boston Philharmonic.  I now regret not attending any of those concerts.   

[Tyson]

I really like all of Karajan's recordings of Mahler, including the 5th.  Not the pinnacle of sound quality, but he brings a nice intensity to the performances.  I also like Bertini and Chailly here.  MTT is good, but Chailly is similar in style but better executed. 

[etcarroll]

Jeffrey and ET:  Do post your impressions of Zander's 5th after you've had a few listens.

Zander did the complete Mahler sympony cycle a few years ago here in Boston with the Boston Philharmonic.  I now regret not attending any of those concerts.   

Just ordered it, should arrive around the 15th. Got the SACD to boot.

Can't believe I never saw the BPO though born and raised there. I have seen the PSO 3 times this year, and have tickets for 2 more nights already.