The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic has a long tradition of Mahler performance dating back to the stewardship of Charles Groves. Under Libor Pesek the orchestra recorded a sensational Mahler Ninth that remains one of the best (and least known) versions of that work. So there’s no question that these players have the ability and the experience to deliver themselves of some excellent Mahler. The principal variable lies with the conductor, and here Gerard Schwarz comes up wanting.
This is a light, swift, almost featureless performance. It has some terrific moments: the horn whoops at the first movement’s climax, an impressive draining of color as the funeral march fades away, and a hell-for-leather tempo to open the finale. But this last point also illustrates the performance’s problems: where are the trombones and tuba at that stormy onslaught–or in the subsequent triumphant chorales? There’s no weight of tone, little brilliance, and little bottom to the sound despite good sonics. The music needs more accent, inflection, and rhythmic punch than Schwarz allows. He’s simply too bland. Given the ready availability of superb competing versions, from Kubelik (DG) and Bernstein (DG) to Boulez (DG) and the spectacular new Gielen (Hänssler), this issue simply fails to measure up.
