Mahler: Symphony no 5, BPO/Karajan

Mahler: Symphony no 5

Berliner Philharmoniker

Christa Ludwig, contralto
Herbert von Karajan, conductor.




Reference recordings: Mahler 5 - Barshai, Barbirolli, Bernstein (VPO)
Kindertotenlieder - Baker/Barbirolli, Walter/Ferrier

My first experience of Karajan's Mahler was his Das Lied von der Erde. If critics were right of their criticism of Karajan's take on Mahler, this recording was the pinnacle of it. Everything sugar-coated and fluffy, if it were a food you could instantly kill somebody on diabetes. But "herr Karajan"'s take on Mahler's Fifth was indeed a pleasant surprise.

I've grown to appreciate fine recordings by (teh underrated) Barenboim, Bernstein and Walter. I used to think Barbirolli's was overhyped until I gave it another few good tries on a vintage hi-fi and a score, thus it's acclaim justified. If I was not mistaken, Karajan's Mahler 5th and 6th were on top of Gramophone's top 100 greatest recordings of all time?

Here, you will find Karajan and the BPO at one of their rarest - rough, unbuttoned and unadulturated. The way the Berliners attack the opening chords after greeting the solo trumpet gives off a very military feel that I haven't heard in other recordings. Listen to a point at the movement marked "Suddenly faster. Passionate. Wild". Karajan unleashed his Berliners here like a pack of hungry dogs and when they approach the climax and dies down, you can really hear the strings writhe when they play the descending notes.

At the second movement the BPO digs deeper than most orchestras here at other recordings. Karajan balances the contrasts of funereal gloom and violent outbursts with considerable care. The typical Karajan's "gestalt" sound is nowhere to be found in the movement. There are excesses, especially the way he treated the quiet cello passage (dubbed by Furtwangler as "west's first nihilistic music) which lingered too long.

The scherzo begins with a sparkling lit, guided by bright sound of the glockenspiel here. Bernstein and his Viennese counterpart surpasses here and one cannot be helped here, especially at quiet moments where Karajan is a little too grim. At the adagietto, Karajan's timing here is 11 minutes plus but he doesn't follow the "Death in Venice" or Bernstein approach. Here, the meastro treats it rather as a rhapsody than a "Ruckertlieder without words"* favored by Walter or Barbirolli. There is no short of lingering tenderness and here the BPO shows off their lushness in string playing.

* paraphrased quote from Donald Mitchell

Finally, Karajan does no wrong at the Rondo-Finale (as almost every single Mahler 5th I've heard). There's joyous gait, but one could even doubt whether Karajan was sincere here. I could certainly do with that than Klemperer *shudder*. By the coda Karajan turned Bernstein here, accelerating the movement until out of control. It is one of rare reckless moment of Karajan and the Berliners and it reminded me of the last moments in the Finale of Brahms' Second of theirs.

You certainly won't find a Kindertotenlieder sung by Christa Ludwig coupled up with the Fifth these days (you can find it instead coupled with Karajan's studio Mahler Ninth), a lame attempt to milk money from 2 CDs. If Ludwig has advantage to her other counterparts Janet Baker and Kathleen Ferrier in this work, it is her natural pronunciation of German. The words "In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus!" at the last movement uttered by her was chilling, even if driven by Karajan's fast tempo (which is akin to the beginning of first act in Die Walkure). Barbirolli's direction is more melancholic here and Karajan certainly can't match Walter's direction but it is fascinating to hear the maestro's approach on one of Mahler's most gloomy work. The Fifth is a classic "edge-in-your-seat" Mahler, but you may also consider Barshai's acclaimed recording with his high school German youths and Bernstein, also Barbirolli for finer approach.

Technical: 9
Interpretation: 8
Recording: 8