Editorial Reviews

For more than 50 years, Mahler's "Fifth" confounded its listeners. In five disparate movements arranged in three disjunct parts, the "Fifth" moves from grief to anger to energy to love to joy. The "Fifth" rushes into climaxes, collapses into silences, hurtles into abysses, and soars into spaces with such unrestrained strength and unreserved emotion that making sense of it all seemed impossible for decades. But once they got it, audiences embraced the "Fifth" and now, a century after its composition, the "Fifth" is not only one of Mahler's most popular symphonies, it is one of the most popular of all symphonies.

The trick was getting conductors and orchestras to understand the "Fifth." When only true believers like Walter and Mengelberg performed the work, the "Fifth" eluded listeners. But once a second generation of conductors like Bernstein and Solti took up the work, the "Fifth" became ubiquitous. In this 2004 recording by Jonathon Nott and the Bamberger Sinfonieorchester, the "Fifth" is disparate and disjunct, but after 50 years of constant exposure, it all sounds quite normal. Indeed, if this competent and convincing performance has a fault, it is that the music no longer confronts the listener, no longer challenges his/her concept of coherence, no longer threatens his/her notion of order. The Bamberger plays with power and dedication and Nott conducts with authority and sympathy, but their "Fifth" is too easy to listen to. Tudor's super audio sound is rich and warm, but hard at climaxes. James Leonard, All Music Guide

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