Search - Gustav Mahler, Anton Nanut, Ljubljana Radio Orchestra :: Mahler: Symphony No. 5

A FINE FIFTH!!! (AT A FIFTH OF THE PRICE)

Melvyn M. Sobel | Freeport (Long Island), New York | 10/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From the initial horn call of the first movement (Trauermarsch) that summons its early cataclysmic opening, through the episodic funeral march, with its schizophrenic jubilance and sorrow, give and emotional take, we realize quickly that Nanut's understanding of this awesome work is complete, thrilling, his scope vast.



The second movement (Sturmisch bewegt) seems an eerie traversal of melancholy and divergent themes beckoned forth from a netherland that only a composer like Mahler would dare envision, or an artist like Bosch. Nanut tempers the "demons" with a coaxing, ominous, yet strangely melodic and captivating sound world. Nanut leans mercifully, as always, towards the beauty in Mahler's symphonic metamorphoses--- eschewing the coarse and blunt brutality that is too often unleashed by the majority of conductors---and the music is the better for this less "rugged" approach, I think.



The Scherzo, in all its permutations--- from landler to outlandish--- is one of Mahler's more thrilling, bizarre, brazen, penetrating, somber and ecstatic movements, and Nanut has its complete measure. His luminous handling of the fourth movement Adagietto is perfectly judged and rich in a pathos that resonates to the very core of this symphony without becoming cloying. The Ljubljanians play with a sweet unison that silences criticism, and a sound warmly romantic.



The Rondo-Finale, perky and tuneful, is sheer pleasure, often nostalgic in its reminiscences of Mahler's enchanting Symphony No. 4, yet looking forward, as well, to the tragic angst of Symphony No. 6. Nanut builds this movement with an ever-increasing tension that finally explodes in the most satisfying of Mahlerian expressions and emotional releases.



It is difficult to believe that a performance and recording this good can be purchased for a mere pittance. Yet without knowledge, most of us would probably bypass this CD because it "seems" too inexpensive, the conductor, fairly unknown, the orchestra, "foreign." This, indeed, might be an "expensive" mistake.



[Running time: 63:17]"

Wonderful discovery at a bargain price

Larkenfield | 03/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm glad to add this to my permanent Mahler collection as pure music enjoyment -- a real orchestra in the best sense of the word... healthy in sound. This is the kind of non-desperate though thoroughly expressive Mahler I'd enjoy if I decided I wanted a night out on the town to attend a satisfying concert just for the sheer pleasure of it. The musicians seem to be enjoying themselves too, and it's supposed to be about the music anyway and not about trying to compete with other recordings of Mahler's 5th. Above and beyond the Mahler they play, there's the underlying feeling that this is a happy orchestra who enjoys playing together. I find it rare for a quality such as that to shine through, and yet that's what I hear."