Mahler - Symphony 5 [Dudamel-Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra Of Venezuela]Here's a new Mahler 5 that i added to my collection, and decided to give it it's first spin, Mahler's Fifth is my favourite Symphony from him, so there's always room for another interpretation / slant, Dudamel has impressed me in the past, and everyone seems to rave about him, a real up and coming Conductor, and the results?, well they're good, but with some reservations, the Symphony is recorded fairly quietly, i turned up the volume to compensate, but maybe i didn't turn it up loud enough until later in the work, so my first impression was one of somewhat a subdued reading, more of the sweet serenade in the whole thing, instead of the brittleness that can be there, the brass especially seem to be subdued, and this is a work where the brass instruments should play a pivotal role, creating a white heat intensity, which Dudamel seems to miss, also i strangely feel that Dudamel is slow, but checking out the timings he's not much different that Dohnanyi or Chailly, two phenomenal readings, the Symphony got better as time went on, could be the fact that i turned up the volume later, a very good reading, but a degree of detachment, i need to listen to it again sometime.
Again the movement that greatly affected me was the second, it's my favourite, it just seems to say everything, and everything so perfectly, it's nearly 15 minutes of music, full of glorious ideas, really well paced by Mahler, a great variety of the string lyrical and the brass glory, as it switches between the two,
Gustavo Dudamel is from Venezuela, now 30 years old, and not really any more a youngster, he recorded this disc in 2006, the front and back cover are black and white pictures [by Mathias Bothor], hmmm, i don't think they really work, i also like the timings on the back so i can know where i am, but it's pleasing enough.
