An enduring audience favourite Mahler’s
Symphony No. 5 continues
to maintain a firm hold on the concert repertoire with an abundance of
choice in the record catalogues. It’s a work that can make a deep emotional
impression. I can still recall an Olympian performance of the
Symphony
No. 5 that I attended in 2011 at Berlin by the Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra under Manfred Honeck. With the performance being given on actual
day of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers
of the New York’s World Trade Center the performance had an extra
poignancy.
The orchestra on this Profil release the Hamburg based NDR
Sinfonieorchester was established after the war in 1945 under the name of
the Symphony Orchestra of Radio Hamburg. Berlin born Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
was the founding conductor and its concerts were played at the Hamburg
Musikhalle renamed the Laeiszhalle. The orchestra’s present name the NDR
Sinfonieorchester Hamburg (North German Radio Symphony Orchestra Hamburg)
was chosen in 1956 following the splitting of the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk
(Northwest German Broadcasting) into two regions the NDR and WDR. Principal
conductors of the Hamburg orchestra have included Herbert Blomstedt,
Christoph Eschenbach, John Eliot Gardiner, Christoph von Dohnányi and Klaus
Tennstedt the conductor here.
Klaus Tennstedt responds to the multifarious moods of Mahler’s
Symphony No. 5 with passionately commitment and enthralling drama.
From the first note to the last there's a judicious balance struck
between stunningly expressive playing and care for the overall structure. In
the opening of the
Trauermarsch (
Funeral March) the
intensity of nightmarish expression and the sheer weight of sound send a
shiver down the spine. Overall Tennstedt takes the movement slower than I
was expecting. Immediately I noticed the excellent condition of the brass
with the strings also radiating a glorious bloom. Such a magnificent
creation; in the uplifting second movement who could fail to be impressed by
playing that swells gloriously into determined climaxes. The overtly
pictorial
Scherzo feels like open-air music, a refreshing stride
through verdant Alpine vistas with Tennstedt's penetrating clarity
communicating the stunning sights and sounds along the route. One could
almost be reading intimate pages from Mahler’s holiday diary. Especially
striking is the wonderful horn playing and the distinctive rich and firm
tone of the cellos. In this movement Tennstedt directs a climax that was
shattering in terms of exhilaration, volume and force, almost pinning me
back into my seat. Mahler’s declaration of his deep love for wife Alma, the
justly famous
Adagietto, feels so intense and emotionally
persuasive it could break the stoniest of hearts. Imbued with a captivating
sense of optimism and vigour the
Rondo-Finale just trips along
buoyantly, generating great excitement. In the rumbustious final pages the
reserves of sheer energy that Tennstedt demands from his responsive Hamburg
players is produced in spades. This is a highly engaging live 1980
Laeiszhalle recording from Tennstedt. It can confidently rub shoulders with
many of the acclaimed accounts. Nevertheless, I will continue to reach for
my treasured live 1981 Herkulessaal, Munich recording from Rafael Kubelik
and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks on Audite.
Mahler composed his orchestral song cycle
Kindertotenlieder
(
Songs for dead children) in 1901/04 to texts by Friedrich Rückert.
Following the deaths of two of his children, Rückert wrote over four hundred
poems collectively titled
Kindertotenlieder. Alma Mahler strongly
expressed her discomfort with the subject matter as if composing
Kindertotenlieder would somehow tempt fate. Subsequently Mahler and
Alma became haunted by the death of their own child Maria in 1907. Given the
sombre nature of the inspiration it is not surprising that an achingly
poignant mood cloaks these songs. At times I can hear shades of the exotic
sound-world that Mahler established a few years later in
Das Lied von
der Erde. In this live 1980 Kieler Schloss recording of the
Kindertotenlieder cycle the sadness and sense of total despair
produced by Brigitte Fassbaender’s implacably expressive vocal is almost too
sad to bear. It is striking how she is able to deepen and darken her tone to
great effect. Overall this is a fine performance without quite matching the
intensity of her own compelling 1988/89 Jesus Christus Kirche, Berlin
account with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Riccardo Chailly
on EMI. Another classic account of
Kindertotenlieder that stands
out from the crowd is the remarkable 1967/69 Abbey Road, London recording
from Janet Baker with the Hallé Orchestra under John Barbirolli on EMI.
Recorded live in 1980 these two engaging performances are welcome
additions to the Mahler catalogue. The sound quality of these made-for-radio
broadcast recordings is excellent with satisfying clarity and balance.
Regrettably the Rückert
Kindertotenlieder texts and English
translations are omitted.
Michael Cookson
