Mahler - Symphony 5 [Dohnanyi-The Cleveland Orchestra]
Here's my favourite version of my favourite Mahler Symphony, i bought this way back in 1993, and i have certainly played it extensively, this disc is in my all time top 50, it weaves a certain magic, this is where i believe Mahler perfected his Symphonic technique, and with wonderful sound to cope with loud brass and crashing cymbals, it's an aural treat also, i played this on the way to Church today.
Christoph Von Dohnanyi is German [always thought he was Eastern European], he is now 81, he made this recording in 1988.
The whole Symphony was a powerhouse of noise, it's amazing how Mahler can throw in all these different ingredients, and yet it doesn't get swamped in a vague stew, the more i listen to it, the more i delight in all the little phrases and soundbites that are so expertly fused together, i most of all enjoyed the second and third movements, and it seems i always come back to the second movement as my spiritual base for this Symphony, it's entitled 'stormy, with the greatest vehemence', it's a movement of blasting brass, shrieking woodwinds, clashing cymbals, and thundering drums, it certainly lives up to its 'vehemence' title, certainly the first 75 seconds seems to have every instrument throwing a tantrum into the melee, whooping and rasping brass, a demented type of fanfare in a way, before the strings seem to take back order for a while, it's the little touches that Mahler creates, a little phrase here, an exciting idea there, just giving this movement another little spin to remind myself of some of its beauties, i realize i could be here forever pointing out all sorts of magical moments, so really i'll just mention three, [7:48-7:50] the woodwinds have a rather demented high shriek, the brass trumpets, and the timpani and cymbals bring the moment to a halt with a dead stop, now i really like that!, [10:20+] for me the best part of the whole Symphony, Mahler creates a phenomenal resolution, a moment of glory and grandeur, [11:38] a nice drum thump and cymbal crash, i wrote these three moments down as i listened to the work, i'm loving this Symphony more than ever.
Here's Leonard Bernstein conducting the second movement on YouTube.
