Symphonies Nos 4 & 5

Mahler at his best
It rarely happens, but I found myself so spellbound while first listening to Valery Gergiev's Mahler Fourth that I immediately played it a second time, following with rapt attention every detail of this outstanding performance. This is Mahler playing at its best: full of underlying tensions, quirky, but highly melodic, dynamic and with deep awareness of every detail and, at the same time, the structure as a whole. Camilla Tilling's radiant soprano and her intonation are perfect in the Finale. Gergiev is one of the most thoughtful, charismatic and humble among the truly great conductors of today. The World Orchestra for Peace (WOP), composed of volunteer principals and prominent players from all over the world, is a stellar ensemble indeed and the two BBC Prom concerts are captured in brilliant video and uncompressed, glorious audio (bravo Unitel!). The Fifth is presented on the same high level, with the necessary gravitas in the first movement, biting ferociousness in the second,...

A dramatic approach to Mahler to contrast with the more sensitive Abbado
This DVD release is of the fine interpretation by Gergiev at the Royal Albert Hall during the Prom concerts. The recording, both sonically and visually is excellent and well up to the high standards I have come to expect of C major. In this case however,there is clearly a more dramatic approach to the visual recording than usual, with frequent angled shots of the superb solo trumpeter taken from a close, low viewpoint for example. Both he and the solo horn player are brought to the front of the stage by Gergiev for special attention at the end and to enthusiastic applause. I have found this essentially dramatic and finely played reading to be a very rewarding interpretation over several playings and a viable additional interpretation to complement that by Abbado at Lucerne.

Very generously, this also has Mahler 4 as an additional item although there will be those who would describe the 5th as the extra item! This too is a fine interpretation and very well well played. The...

an excellent bargain
First off, let me say this is a very generous dvd, well over 2 hours long, with two long Mahler symphonies. This of course would mean nothing if the performances weren't excellent, but thankfully they are both yardsticks.

I actually slightly preferred #5 to #4, but not by much. Gergiev plays the Fifth to the hilt, with a crackerjack finale a good bit faster than Abbado's - very exciting, and brings the house down at this Proms concert at the Albert Hall. My only caveat here is that the adagietto is over 10 minutes long, a pet peeve of mine. This piece was written as a love song which Mahler sent to his wife-to-be Alma in piano score. This is supposed to be a 7-8 minute piece, but most conductors like to milk it so that it sounds like a dirge, not a passionate song of yearning. It is, however played very beautifully, better than most I've heard.

In the Fourth, Camilla Tilling makes a great soloist in the finale, and I also prefer this performance to both of...

Click to Editorial Reviews