Markus Stenz recorded a thrilling performance of this symphony with the Melbourne Symphony for ABC Classics, but this new version is nowhere near as good. Indeed, it calls into question his consistency as a conductor more generally. The first movement sounds rushed here, particularly at the climaxes, while the fleet tempo doesn’t permit the players to inflect the principal melody as they did in Melbourne. At the same time, details such as the soft percussion in both the first and second movements fail to register as they should, while the big moments in the latter lack the necessary power. The scherzo goes well, as it did previously, but the Adagietto is also more than a minute faster than before–not unacceptably so, but again, it makes you question whether or not a Stenz recording represents a mature, thoughtful view of the work or simply what happened on the day.
The sonics are decent but somewhat shallow and lacking richness in the bass, and this may contribute to the less than overwhelming impression of this new interpretation. I am troubled by this further evidence that artists today no longer regard recordings as special occasions to set down something of permanent value, but rather as just another day at the office. Mahler, of all composers, should never sound like that.
