Here’s a comparatively prosaic Mahler Fifth, the highpoint of which might well be the very satisfying whack on the tam-tam at the climax of the second movement. Elsewhere, the chief impression is one of tentativeness: the shy solo trumpet in the opening funeral march, the timid trombones in the second movement, and a backwardly balanced, watery French horn solo in the third. Ken-ichiro Kobayashi’s pacing similarly fails to convince, particularly in the scherzo, which at nearly 20 minutes badly lacks the energy that Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic brought to their version at a similarly expansive tempo. Less than 10 minutes long in this reading, the Adagietto has a nicely singing quality, but a finale that never generates a sufficient head of steam frustratingly follows it. The recorded sound captures the climaxes impressively but otherwise permits the orchestra to “swim” in a large acoustic that only exaggerates its overall tonal smallness. At super premium import prices, this recording is an expensive indulgence, nothing more.
