Mahler - Symphony No 5

The Guardian 80

Minnesota Orchestra/Vänskä
(BIS)

It’s more than 20 years since Osmo Vänskä recorded any Mahler. That disc, of the chamber version of Das Lied von der Erde, was a one-off, but now, with cycles of the Beethoven and Sibelius symphonies already completed with the Minnesota Orchestra, this new account of the Fifth Symphony launches what’s promised as a major Mahler series; the Second and Sixth Symphonies are apparently scheduled for release soon, too.

The Fifth, though, won’t be to all tastes. There’s something admirably unhistrionic about Vänskä’s approach, but there are times when his determination to stop the performance from getting overheated holds things back. At 75 minutes, the whole thing is longer than most of the reference versions on disc, and the central scherzo and the adagietto especially seem laboured. Against that, both the funereal opening and the joyous release of energy in the finale are superbly stage-managed, and the orchestral playing is exceptional throughout.