David Zinman follows the current trend in placing the Andante second, a mistake in my view on purely musical grounds. Mahler’s own performance history tells us nothing useful here: there weren’t enough performances in his lifetime to establish a “tradition”, and all of his appearances in his own music were more in the nature of experiments than definitive interpretive statements (nowhere more so than in the Sixth). I’ve discussed in detail elsewhere why musical factors, on balance, favor placing the Andante third, and I won’t repeat the arguments here–those who disagree obviously will approve of Zinman’s choice. And truth be told, of all the versions that adopt his approach, this recording is probably the best so far: Zinman’s slowish tempo for the scherzo permits a steady build-up in tension to the finale, even if its introduction underlines the basic sameness of mood and tonality that constitutes one of the principal arguments for placing the scherzo second in the first place.
In all other respects Zinman shines. The opening march is crisp, energetic (as Mahler demands), but not too fast. It offers a textbook example of how to create the right militant atmosphere in the first subject without chopping the phrasing up into disconnected bits (as happens with Thomas and Zander). Zinman maintains the same high voltage in his handling of the second subject (the “Alma” theme), which really soars. Textures remain remarkably clear throughout, with all of Mahler’s special effects (cowbells, celesta, xylophone) perfectly judged. The Andante also sounds gorgeous, and the tempo really is andante, not adagio. The strings play beautifully, as do the solo woodwinds and horn. The central “Alpine” episode is particularly colorful.
Every performance of this symphony succeeds or fails on the basis of the finale, and here Zinman really excels. He takes his time over the introduction, those menacing brass shrieks as expressionistically underlined as in Bernstein/Vienna (DG). The hammer blows are sensational–among the most crushing ever recorded, but also, somehow, musical rather than just noisy. In the last 10 minutes or so (the recapitulation) Zinman succeeds in clarifying the music’s polyphonic combinations of themes without sacrificing a scintilla of its power or excitement. The sonics are also much better balanced than in the previous release of the Fifth Symphony, with the lower strings and brass captured much more realistically. In sum, this is a very fine Sixth, and you can always enjoy it with the scherzo second if you feel so inclined. [1/28/2009]
