Mahler: Symphony No.5 by Walter

来源: BlogBus 原始链接: http://www.blogbus.com:80/blogbus/blog/diary.php?diaryid=333823 存档链接: https://web.archive.org/web/20040920011401id_/http://www.blogbus.com:80/blogbus/blog/diary.php?diaryid=333823

Mahler: Symphony No.5 by Walter Gustav Mahler : Symphony No.5 New York Philharmonic Bruno Walter Sony, The Bruno Walter Edition, SMK 64451 Part I:

1. Trauermarsch. 11'39
2. Stuermisch bewegt. Mit groesster Vehemenz 12'31 Part II:
3. Scherzo. 15'06 Part III:
4. Adagietto. 7'35
5. Rondo-Finale. 13'55 Total Time: 61'04 -- superfast! Mahler 5 has always posed a problem for me: What does Mahler want to express in this boisterous work? It is indeed the most "vivace" and noisy symphony of Mahler, heavily laden with bold, sometimes brassy, folk melodies, as if the always spiritual Mahler has discarded his philosophical pursuit and plunged whole-hearted into worldly playfulness. This work, along with No.4, which has in it an intricate web of musical ideas drawn from its predecessors and forecasting its successors, has been the most awed Mahler symphony for me. Even Mahler himself struggled with the orchestration, which became a problem because of the complex contrapuntal writing, only to be resolved shortly before the composer's death. This symphony, arguably one of the most enjoyed but least discussed work among Mahler symphonies, grouped together with No.6 and No.7 as the Mahler's "instrumental trilogy", (the other two being No.2 to 4 -- the "Wunderhorn trilogy" and Das Lied, No.9, No.10 -- the "Farewell trilogy"), would be included in any anthology of Mahler alongside No.1 or No.4, but people seldom talk about what it's about. From the musical perspective, Part I and the rest seem lack of continuity, as if the stormy funeral march is suddenly dispelled. And why so tragic vision after the seemingly naive No.4? Is the Titan cast into abyss again (and revived so fast by the longest ever scherzo)? Therefore for me, the main attraction of the work is not the technical side, esp. the "triple fugue" which at first seized the world with its intracacy, but the first part, which is a funeral march and its sequence. Bernstein's always good at this -- just listening to his No.6 for DG, as if the whole world is tossed upside down! But Walter's account is more "lyrical", as Bernstein suggests in his review. Yet the recording is showing its age. Recorded in 1947, the stormy side of the music is much muffled due to the incompetent dynamic range. Walter is always good at being "lyrical", and he imbued with it in the whole work. Whenever the music turns soft, Walter starts to "sing". The effect, to me, is very moving, especially in the solo parts. But as the timing indicates, this recording is extremely fast. And Walter is actually more energetic than many of his suave recordings (such as Beethoven 6). The scherzo and rondo-finale are remarkably so, and Walter's typical emphasis on rhythm adds to that. The Adagietto is much calmer, truly peaceful. There's no fierce outcry as in Bernstein. One feels a kind of inner power in it as the strings sing their heartstrings. The timing is 7'35, much shorter than modern versions, even shorter than Mahler's own indication, and sometimes it really sounds too fast as if the emotion is not yet fully expressed before the music turns to the next phrase. At crucial moments Walter's rubati help solve this problem to some extent. I feel -- as I can't analyse it from reason, I can only "feel" -- this is somewhat a very good recording, at least a valuable document since it's the only Walter Mahler 5 preserved. schonne 发表于 2004-08-17 | 引用Trackback(0) | 编辑