Mahler
Symphony No. 7
National Symphony Orchestra/Gianandrea Noseda
NSO NSO0022 75:12 mins
Mahler’s madcap Seventh Symphony is the toughest of his symphonies to conceptualise and to execute. Lacking any explicit programme, two of its five movements are inscrutably titled ‘Nachtmusik’, while the Finale, an unhinged Rabelaisian romp, demands watertight conducting and tenacious orchestral virtuosity.
Both requirements are triumphantly met in this spectacular performance, from Gianandrea Noseda and the NSO of Washington DC. Recorded live at the Kennedy Center in 2024, this comes hard on the heels of Simon Rattle’s recent traversal with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, reviewed elsewhere on our site: Review: Mahler Symphony No. 7 / Rattle.
Noseda’s band is phenomenal, never missing a step throughout this demanding and often elusive work, the brass in particular meriting special commendation, right from the tenor-tuba’s sombre threnody at the outset, through the evocative horn calls of ‘Nachtmusik I’, to the high-riding trumpets of the Finale.
Noseda and Rattle each top and tail the Seventh in 75 minutes, but their performances contrast sharply in other respects. Noseda’s ‘Nachtmusik II’, for example, could double as a nocturnal Neapolitan tone-picture, replete with evocative mandolin and guitar, burbling winds and a sultry solo violin, whereas Rattle consistently lays bare the thorny undercurrents of this score.
That’s perhaps a bonus in any score as multi-layered as this, but where Noseda doesn’t consciously aim for textural clarity, this transparent recording helpfully provides it for him, offering a dynamic range and tonal lustre not quite equalled by Rattle’s reading. Highly recommended.
