Hänssler has finally decided to offer as individual releases the two performances (Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9) previously available only in Michael Gielen’s complete Mahler box. His conception of the Fifth is surprisingly swift and free of expressionist angst. It calls to mind Kubelik’s in its emphasis on the long line and attention to details of structure. The opening funeral march is a real march: it flows forward without neglecting the emotional climaxes. The second movement also has unusual cogency, but don’t think that Gielen is a lightweight. Listen to the heavy brass just before the big choral: Gielen knows where the music is going, and where Mahler marks “climax” he obliges with a will. The scherzo has plenty of Viennese lilt, and in keeping with current thought, the Adagietto is flowing in tempo (less than nine minutes), the finale aptly perky. This interpretation doesn’t hit you in the solar plexus as this symphony can, but taken as a whole it’s extremely satisfying, well played, and very well recorded.
