Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor
The Symphonica of London/Wyn Morris
rec. 1973, Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London (?)
IMP Classics PCD1033 [77]

In his survey of recordings of Mahler’s Fifth, Tony Duggan was circumspect about recommending this one, advising that it is “over-dramatised” and “should only be investigated by those who like their Mahler rich, ripe (maybe overripe) and heavily romantic.” To me, that is tantamount to a recommendation as I like the Bernstein/Shipway approach, and right from the off Morris layers on what some hear as schmaltz and I find exhilaratingly engaged. The peculiarity of this very personal and controversial interpretation is that it takes all the movements slowly with the exception of the Adagietto, to which he allots a mere eight minutes while Karajan and Shipway take a loving twelve and thirteen minutes respectively. The analogue sound is very good for its era: rich and dense, capturing Morris’ particular attention to dynamic variation.

I like the steady, even ominous, tread of the first movement Funeral March and the sheer hysteria of the second movement is surely just what Mahler had in mind; what else can “mit größter Vehemenz” (with the greatest vehemence) mean? The orchestra Morris assembled from the best freelancers and members of London bands makes a great sound even if cohesion goes occasionally goes very slightly astray. The intensity of sound and phrasing is striking; this has the frisson of a live performance and is as riotous and thrilling as any recording I know. The scherzo is likewise released and turbulent; the horns – the Tuckwell family! – are particularly dark and sonorous, especially the solo obbligato part. The irony – even sarcasm – inherent in the music is played up for all its worth and instead of Viennese cham we hear unstable, galumphing parody. This is worlds away from the classical, detached hauteur of Karajan’s interpretative stance but works just as well; Morris conjures up a really macabre atmosphere.

Morris certainly eschews sentimentality by taking the meaning of “Adagietto” as “a little bit slowly” – but the playing is still very fluid and beautiful, rubato is applied to phrasing and the strings do “sing”. The reprise at four and a half minutes – virtually exactly half way through – is so tenderly articulated and the concluding low A of the final phrase is prolonged into eternity – just lovely.

The finale is again graced by some really fine horn playing and brims with exuberance. Whether Morris’ sudden slowing down for the chorale at the end of the movement was a good idea is debatable; there is no such marking in the score and I think it a blot as it obviously puts the brakes on the momentum so far accumulated and that’s hard to regain. Having said that, the final couple of minutes are glorious; the brass excel themselves and one sees what Morris was driving at with his manipulation of the tempi.

I would not be without this recording now I have come to know it; it is the kind of music-making which oozes personality and engagement on the part of both the conductor and his orchestra.

Ralph Moore

Availability
Not available new; published as part of Ralph’s ongoing Mahler review series.