Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp major (1910)
Performing version by Deryck Cooke (1976 – 3rd Edition, 1989)
Minnesota Orchestra/Osmo Vänskä
rec. 2019, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, USA
BIS BIS-2396 SACD [78]
This is probably the last stop in my recent survey of recordings of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony which had previously passed under my radar. In truth, this review is bordering on the superfluous, as it has already been comprehensively, expertly and positively reviewed by my colleagues John Quinn and Chris Salocks on its appearance back in March 2021, but I add my thoughts for the sake of completeness – especially as it has been adjudged one of the best in Vänskä’s complete box set (review).
I doubt whether any listener of moderate acquaintance with recordings with recordings of the Tenth would detect any limitations in the playing of the Minnesota Orchestra; they are as rich and subtle as any of the bigger name rivals and the only appreciable difference between this and accounts by such as Rattle and Harding is that Vänskä is marginally sadder and more deliberate in the Adagio but there is no sense of lethargy. His sobriety does not preclude lyricism in the tender passages and a rhythmic swing in the bucolic sections. I listen in conventional stereo rather than SACD multi-channel sound but am impressed by its depth and dynamic range. Vänskä has long been famed for his control of pianissimi and the passage preceding the crisis chord outburst is a striking example of that; it certainly reinforces the impact of the outburst and the quiet section preceding the final bars is delivered in a mesmerising whisper.
The first Scherzo is tripping and insouciant, its textures transparent and enhanced by the clarity of the engineering. Enunciation is sharp and the short Purgatorio exudes a sense of dark, underlying menace despite its superficial jollity. The music of the second Scherzo is chaotic but the very immediacy of the recording combined with Vänskä’s slightly more careful manner only heightens its weirdness. After all, the instruction is “Nicht zu schnell”; Mahler wants us to savour the rapid succession of moods and rhythms.
As is so often the case with recordings of the Tenth Symphony, the drum thwacks opening the finale – and Vänskä takes them all, unlike Rattle who cuts back from Cooke’s suggestion – are too loud, close and emphatic when they need to be dull, distant and vaguely monitory – “offstage”, in effect. After that, everything unfolds as it should: a delicate flute solo and a floating string threnody – but those strikes are no more atmospherically apt on their reappearance seven minutes in, which is a pity. Otherwise, the playing is excellent – especially the sonorous horns – and the recurrence of the crisis chord half way through is chilling. The final surge on the strings is a little understated compared with, for example, Chailly, who against the general run of his gentler recording, here devises at the last gasp a real rage against the dying of the light, a desperate clinging to life rather than just gentle resignation. In that regard, Vänskä ends in much the same way as Rattle does it with the BPO, but I prefer more of a heroic struggle and a doubt-ridden conclusion.
I concur with my reviewer colleagues that this is a fine, affecting performance virtually indistinguishable in sound and quality from previously celebrated recordings, but as with the much older Chailly recording, at certain moments it lacks the last degree of intensity – or even repressed hysteria – which pervades most of this troubled and troubling work before the apotheosis of the last few minutes.
Ralph Moore
Previous reviews: John Quinn ~ Chris Salocks
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