COMPOSERS: Mahler
LABELS: MCA Millennium Classics
WORKS: Symphony No. 5
PERFORMER: Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Hermann Scherchen
CATALOGUE NO: MCD 80081 ADD/DDD (1953)
Remembered if at all as a champion of new music, Scherchen deserves this timely rescue from interpretative near-oblivion. Once you adjust to the reckless spurts in the midst of a measured funeral procession, it becomes clear through the following movements just how masterfully and atmospherically he veers between riot and reflection. The Adagietto takes wing as rapturous Lied, only to be steadied by its central glimpse of heaven, while the finale works itself into excited jubilation by steady degrees. Excellent sound for the (mono) vintage. David Nice
Mahler: Symphony No. 5
Remembered if at all as a champion of new music, Scherchen deserves this timely rescue from interpretative near-oblivion. Once you adjust to the reckless spurts in the midst of a measured funeral procession, it becomes clear through the following movements just how masterfully and atmospherically he veers between riot and reflection. The Adagietto takes wing as rapturous Lied, only to be steadied by its central glimpse of heaven, while the finale works itself into excited jubilation by steady degrees. Excellent sound for the (mono) vintage. David Nice
Our rating
4
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:38 pm