Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor (1901-2)
Junge Deutsche Philharmonie/Rudolf Barshai
1999, Philharmonie, Berlin
Brilliant Classics 93719 [70]
Symphony No.10 in F sharp minor (1910, reconstruction and instrumentation after Mahler’s sketches by Rudolf Barshai)
rec. live, 12 September 2001, Konzerthaus, Berlin
Brilliant Classics 94040 [74]
Tony Duggan’s reviews of Barshai’s live composite recordings of his Fifth and Tenth Symphonies in 2002 and 2004 respectively endorsed these live recordings as enthusiastically as anything else he ever reviewed, so it would seem in order revisiting them a generation on, as part of my recent general survey of recordings of the Tenth, to discuss whether his trusted, expert assessment needs any further comment. Brilliant Classics originally released these two symphonies as a two-disc set (92205, which is what I own), but that is now only available on the used market; retailers such as Presto offer them as individual downloads, as per the header.
TD refused to apply the nomenclature of “completion” to the various elaborations of the Tenth Symphony and cannily referred to them as “realisations”, on the grounds that the composer himself would have made progressive changes to the work left on four staves. As TD explains, “He then orchestrated the first movement and, to most intents and purposes, the tiny third movement. Only the beginning of the second movement was orchestrated and then the orchestration runs out.” I have been reviewing versions by Cooke, Wheeler, Carpenter and Mazzetti – and this is by the conductor of this issue. Cooke’s third is now the most widely heard and recorded but Barshai’s own treatment of the score, the playing of his German Youth Orchestra and the quality of the sound engineering here have all elicited superlatives from cognoscenti. I am not of that brigade but was certainly bowled over by this double-symphony bargain package from Brilliant when I acquired it many years ago.
There is a lean, piercing quality to the opening threnody by the strings which is simultaneously exquisitely beautiful and constantly unsettling. We may be listening to a young orchestra but absolutely nothing about their playing suggests inexperience or technical inadequacy; little things like subtle dynamic shading and neat portamenti indicate how meticulously they have been rehearsed. Likewise, nothing suggests that this is a one-off live recording (it is): the sound engineers have achieved superb depth and balance and the sheer voluptuousness of the tutti around six minutes into the movement is striking. Barshai’s orchestration is less austere and more percussion-heavy than Cooke’s but always authentic sounding; besides, he knows how to pare it back for the predominantly woodwind “chamber music” passages which remind the listener of the spareness of Das Lied von der Erde composed a couple of years earlier. The “scream” (dis)chords are bleak, sustained and chilling and the quasi-consolatory coda first spookily faux-naïf but then sweetness itself.
I love the rhythmic snap Barshai imparts to the second movement Scherzo and he also adds a rustic brass-band flavour by his frequent use of darker, lower brass: no fewer than six horns plus a tenor horn, four trumpets plus a cornet, four trombones and two bass tubas! The Trio continues the peasant romp but then storm-clouds gather with rumbling bass drums and the menacing percussive coda. That rhythmic insistence persists in the short third movement Purgatorio, as does the constant underlying sense of threat as the lower strings and bassoon growl and blare. Once again, the listener will be conscious of how artfully the sound has been managed to bring out every instrumental strand here – it is dark and luscious.
The second Scherzo abandons all pretence of disguise and is overtly disturbing; the constantly shifting keys and time-signatures can cause the movement to fragment in less skilful hands but Barshai melds it into a chastening depiction of the instability and mutability of life. The waltz keeps trying to break through and dominate but all Gemütlichkeit is banished by the screaming trumpet and snarling, muted trombone. The playing as playing per se, regardless of the ingenuity of Barshai’s orchestration, is stunningly good.
The bass drum thwacks are just right – aptly distanced, slightly muffled, worryingly baleful; so many recordings get this wrong. The flute solo momentarily banishes the brassy gloom like a piercing shaft of sunlight then the lead violin takes over, sustaining hope, and the struggle continues but the despair of the first movement returns and once again the cacophonous chord really hits home without being feeling contrived. Barshai manages this emotional sequence of this movement conveying a palpable sense of his grip over its architecture, capping it with the great, over-arching anthem beginning at 12:30, a “farewell to life” breathing resignation and acceptance: “The readiness is all”. The extra depth and darker colouring of Barshai’s arrangement here are, I think, wholly apt for music of this scale and profundity and the rich sonority of the last upward sweeping phrase by the strings touches transcendence.
There is no doubt: this is a great performance to set alongside those by Rattle, Harding, Dausgaard et al; indeed, for all that I esteem those recordings this has a strong claim to being the best of all.
Unsurprisingly, Barshai’s account exhibits virtues similar to his Tenth, putting it on an equally exalted level.
The opening fanfare is dourer and more restrained than some more demonstrative interpreters make it and there is always a grim bass underlay. As TD observes, Barshai keeps his powder dry without sacrificing the intensity of the struggle and despair, rendering the violence opening the following movement more emphatic. This is a trudge through adversity, not an outburst of grief. Kudos to the principal trumpet here throughout.
The playing in the second movement is remarkably unified and focused; no slips, blurs or ragged entries, instead, searing concentration. The blazing climax, promising triumph but then swiftly imploding such that defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory, is magnificently grandiloquent. The third movement Scherzo refuses to be hurried and yet again the music proffers the hope of a better world. This time the first horn takes centre stage, then the pizzicato strings do a convincing imitation of a mandolin; the range of instrumental colour is mightily impressive. The rustic waltz starts to fragment, Barshai subtly cranks up the pace and the comfort blanket starts to unravel; the last four minutes are far from comfortable and you realise how deftly Mahler and Barshai have turned the mood.
The famous Adagietto is taken more swiftly than some but the phrasing is tender and the music sings. Some may still prefer a more indulgent, soulful, Romantic account of the kind Bernstein, Karajan and Tennstedt deliver but Barshai is always about balancing head and heart, mindful of potential sentimentalisation.
There is an honest open-hearted joy about the finale which dispels any residual gloom. For some reason the constantly self-renewing, moto perpetuo nature of the scurrying main them brings Bach to mind and the symphony ends in an affirmative paean of celebration – rather different from the conclusion to its companion symphony. Barshai successfully encompasses the whole emotional gamut of Mahler’s Fifth within a cohesive structure and without any egregious point-making.
Ralph Moore
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