Search - Gustav Mahler, Michael Gielen, SWF Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden :: Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5

A different voice for Mahler, well worth hearing

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you follow various record magazines, the name of Michael Gielen will be familiar to you, but as a podium presence in the U.S., he is practically unknown. For decades Gielen has recorded with provincial German orchestras -- here the Soutwest German Radio orchestra in Baden-Baden -- but unlike Klaus Tennstedt and Gunter Wand, who had similar careers, Gielen's never broke out into the big time. His admirers believe he is among the greatest living conductors, and this lean, swift, perfectly controlled Mahler Fifth supports their case.



Gielen is essentially a modernist, and like Boulez, another modernist who took up Mahler, the symphony is viewed more objectively than subjectively. Gielen isn't cold, however, and he brings to each movement a fine intensity; every bar surges toward a final destination. He shapes phrases well, and he finds the climax of each movement with satisfying dramatic results. His orchestra plays very well -- it's amazing what depth of talent there is among German instrumentalists -- and the recording is very good, too. In all, I think Gielen's voice is well worth hearing in Mahler, and if he had forces at his disposal as magnificent as the orchestras Boulez conducts in Clevealnd, Chicago, and Vienna, more listeners would know this admirable conductor's name."

A memorable Mahler 5

P. Weber | Los Angeles | 05/07/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Most people are not familiar with Gielen's Mahler but that is a loss. This is a terrific Mahler 5, well played and recorded. His tempos are just about perfect, especially the Adagietto, taken at a flowing pace. Too many performances drag it out and inflate it. I've heard dozens of M5's and traded most of them away except for Gielen and Saraste. Give this a try."