Mahler 5th and 10th conducted by Rudolph Barshai

Gustav Mahler


Symphony no 10 (Barshai edition)
Symphony no 5
Junge Deutsche Philharmonie
Rudolph Barshai, conductor








When Tony Duggan gave the Barshai Mahler 5th a verdict that it is his personal favorite, it created a buzz on the internet and Mahlerphiles were eager to lay their hands on that CD and listened to it for themselves what could be argued "the finest Mahler Fifth ever recorded". Some serious musicphiles will scoff at such hype, especially those accustomed with classics Bernstein/VPO, Barbirolli, Walter/NYPO and the credentials of an obscure conductor and a bunch of high-school music acedemicians. I won't be surprised if they changed their mind and reacted as if they found the Holy Grail after listening this recording, because in my opinion it is the finest Mahler Fifth ever recorded - period.

Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony has been likened to Beethoven's Fifth, both symphonies started from a bleak and dramatic first movements moving on to victorious and redemptive finale - a journey from dark to light. Mahler's Fifth however even though part of orchestra's staple warhorse (unimaginable since 1950s) is technically challenging especially the contrupuntal writing for strings and interpretively no conductor in my opinion, ever hold the disperate elements of the Fifth symphony as an organic whole. As Mr Duggan claims, some conductors focuses on the dark/tragic/dark aspects of the work but neglects the other fantastic/joyful/light aspects as well. Then there's even vice-versa where Bernstein/VPO's tragedy sounds merely melodrama although his Scherzo and Rondo remains unsurpassed, in my opinion. Barshai is the first and only conductor to successfully intergrate the five movements and three disparate parts as a continuous, organic flow and which I can imagine Horenstein, Sanderling and even Klemperer would do (sadly none ever recorded or even have interest in this symphony).

It is a bit quirky to attribute Barshai's conducting as similar to Klemperer as the liner notes claim, as both conductors interpretation of Beethoven's Eroica emphasizes clarity of form. And it is how Barshai successfully interpreted this Fifth symphony, by not wearing too much heart on sleeve and let the score (or rather the notes) do the talking. The vehemently violent, schizophernic 2nd movement ironically benefits from such approach...just hear how the strings dig the opening notes and the amazing balances of the wind and brass playing throughout the movement. When it comes to the Scherzo and Rondo-Finale, the playing is a little too controlled and calculated save for amazing brass playing but maestro Barshai made sure the tempos employed keeps the momentum flowing, unlike (forgive me) the often-raved Barbirolli with New Philharmonia which his Rondo-Finale sounds like Klemperer at his grumpy, trudging worst. If you're sucker for dynamic extremes, this recording won't disappoint - just listen to the "collapse" by the last few minutes of the funeral march and the tam-tam crash in the second movement will definitely knock your balls off.

I do not quite share Tony Duggan's enthusiasm that the Mahler 10th here is the finest ever recorded. Ensemble playing is a little shaky compared with the Fifth and the strings sound anemic compared with the Berliner strings in Simon Rattle's recording. Barshai's re-scoring of the unfinished work sounds fascinating, especially his use of xylophones but it sounds more Shostakovich than Mahler and I miss the intimacy of the Deryck Cooke version. The intimacy is more apparent in the last few minutes of the Finale where the orchestration is too dense and there's little dynamic contrasts. But these shortcomings do not make Barshai's conducting of this 10th symphony terrible. On the contrary, the re-touches for the Purgatorio is haunting and I like the final chords after the harp arpeggio which leaves the mood of betrayal more apparent. Simon Rattle's Mahler 10th is still fine, although the obscure engineering is frustrating and Kurt Sanderling's rendition with Berlin Symphony Orchestra remains my personal favorite.

Mahler 10th

Interpretation: 8 Technical: 8 Recording: 9

Mahler 5th

Interpretation: 9 Technical: 10 Recording: 10