Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony No.5
Montreal Symphony Orchestra/Rafael Payare
rec. 2022, La Maison symphonique de Montréal, Canada
Reviewed as a digital download from a press preview
PENTATONE PTC5187067 [67]
Commenting on Mahler 5, the conductor of this new recording of the work, Rafael Payare, locates the dividing line between early and late Mahler symphonies after No.5 and not after No.4 or No.3. This view is very much in evidence in his performance of No.5 which might be described, without criticism, as more lightweight than most. As recent Mahler recordings by the likes of Bychkov and Feltz have shown, there are other routes into these inexhaustible works than teetering at the brink of mental breakdown. Certainly, there is a lot in the Fifth which looks back as much as looks forward.
The normally grimly sardonic second movement, in Payare’s hands acquires a distinctly scherzo like character alternating with a deep sense of melancholy rather than despair. In its delicacy it is closer to the first Nachtmusik of the Seventh symphony. There is certainly no feeling of the conductor driving the music forward relentlessly. On the debit side, some of it sounds too streamlined like a landscape viewed through a limousine window rather than walked through. The cumulative effect is less a stampede into the abyss as it is for example with Barbirolli and more a song of sadness and yearning. When the movement vanishes into the night at the movement’s end, it is more A Midsummer Night’s Dream than Walpurgisnacht.
Unsurprisingly, therefore, the scherzo that follows is bright and light. Strangely, given his view of where the symphony fits into the Mahler canon, Payare isn’t that good at drawing out the Wunderhorn qualities of this movement nor in the finale. Listen to Bychkov’s recent version to hear how that is done. This is, all things considered, a rather cosmopolitan Mahler 5. As with the second movement, this third movement is better at the slower, more reflective passages than the more energetic ones. Payare is guilty at times of letting the pulse go so slack as to lose all momentum. There is a darkness to this central of movement that Barshai captures better than any other recording I know and without it the symphony misses its correct balance.
The recording seems full of presence and is admirably clear without risking sterility. But there is something missing in terms of physical weight of sound in how Payare approaches the work. I did find this an issue as even Bychkov’s comparably benign take on the symphony had plenty of meat on the bone. Without it, something like full engagement is lacking. More superficially, some of the raw excitement is absent. On the plus side, I don’t think I have ever heard the sometimes congested textures of this music rendered so transparently- try the frantic end of the third movement which is translucent.
To round things up a little, the opening funeral march is bright eyed and mobile – a welcome cleaning away of excessive sentiment or a little glib depending on one’s taste – and, as is traditional nowadays, the Adagietto is a flowing love song rather than a threnody. The finale is agile and displays commendable gentleness in recollecting the music of the Adagietto but as with the rest of this performance, I would have liked conductor and orchestra to take a few more risks.
Apparently, this record marks the beginning of a series of recordings from these forces on Pentatone and I will be keen to see where they go next. Personally, I’d suggest Debussy. As for this first in the series, this is Mahler to admire rather than to be bowled over by.
David McDade
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