Search - Gustav Mahler, Claudio Abbado, Chicago Symphony Orchestra :: Mahler: Symphonie No.5

A Mahler 5 to Live With

Music Is Everything | Colorado Springs, CO USA | 01/19/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is my choice for Mahler's Fifth Symphony. Without question, the playing is excellent. I agree somewhat with the other reviewers here that Abbado's interpretation doesn't grab you, but, having heard dozens of other performances, I've found this interpretation enduring and definitive. Gone are the vulgar excesses and impulsive wanderings of so many other Mahler 5 recordings, replaced with a clear sense of flow and structure, allowing the excitement to come from the Chicago Symphony in top form. Spend what you wish on other performances, but this is the one to put on the iPod."

Greatest orchestra in the world

A. C. Buswell | Houston , TX | 03/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The CSO is simply perfect on this recording. The great Adolph Herseth at his best. Although I find Abbado's interpretation to be somewhat conservative and plodding, the tremendous playing by the orchestra more than makes up for it. I remember hearing a live broadcast of this at the time the recording was made (1980's) and I was just floored by the opening. It sounded like a trombone! Having experienced the same piece in Carnegie Hall a few years earlier (with Solti), it is obvious that the DG engineers turned the volume way down on Mr. Herseth. Even so, the opening is still a transcendental experience. The finale rocks! Every trumpet player should have this recording as a reference."