This is the third recording I have reviewed in Minnesota’s Mahler cycle. While their recording of the first symphony proved disappointing, their performance of the seventh symphony was far more impressive. Towards the end of that review I suggested Vänskä and his orchestra had developed a “deeper understanding of Mahler’s sound world.” That comment is certainly borne out in this latest release: Minnesota’s brilliant playing fully communicates the profound emotions of this astonishing score.
The first movement immediately draws us in, the husky yet bloodless tone of the Minnesota violas conjuring the forlorn grief of Mahler’s chromatic line. Vänskä takes three minutes more than the recent Dausgaard and roughly one minute more than Rattle in Berlin. Yet the orchestra plays with an intensity that never lets the performance feel slow. Moreover, a wealth of orchestral detail is revealed in a reading that revels in Mahler’s mastery of orchestration in this, the only movement fully orchestrated by the composer.
Impressive moments abound, but I particularly admire the balance between solo horn and strings at 6’26”, the dissonance obfuscating any sense of a tonal center. Interaction between winds and strings at 9’00” creates a particularly spectral atmosphere, and when the opening viola line returns at 10’12” it has a different, more desperate quality. The shockingly dissonant pile-up 18’17” (a combination of dominant ninths chords in F-sharp and B-flat) has palpable force, its impact heightened by how carefully Vänskä voices counterpoint and dynamics leading up to that moment. The orchestra’s remarkable dynamic control in the final minutes brings a touching fragility to the coda.
Throughout the work, Vänskä’s care for color and balance, as well as his fidelity to the score, ensures we hear every subtle change in color and articulation. He phrases with a supple flexibility that gives his first-chair players plenty of room to shape and characterize their many solos.
Related Classical Music Reviews
- Review: Mahler – Symphony No. 1 – Minnesota Orchestra, Vänskä
- Review: Mahler – Symphony No. 2 – Minnesota Orchestra, Vänskä
- Review: Mahler – Symphony No. 4 – Minnesota Orchestra, Vänskä
- Review: Mahler – Symphony No. 7 – Minnesota Orchestra, Vänskä
The excellence of the BIS recording really comes into its own in the three inner movements. Every line has startling clarity, with even the largest climaxes given plenty of room to blossom. This is music of impulsive mercurial mood swings, masterfully navigated by Vänskä and his players. At times he adds his own sudden changes: towards the end of the second movement (10’20”) Vänskä really pulls the tempo back, allowing him to create an exciting accelerando into the final bars. At first hearing this felt mannered, but after repeated listening it was more convincing, and it undeniably builds into an especially thrilling Coda.
His tempo for the Purgatorio (track 3) is slower than most performances, its pacing revealing a kinship to the Wunderhorn symphonies. Winds again provide abundant character, but there is a wildness in the readings of Dausgaard and Rattle that makes Vänskä feel tame by comparison. Dausgaard drives the fourth movement Scherzo hard, robbing the music of any sense of elegance. It is an idea that works well within the context of his overall interpretation but in Minnesota one finds greater finesse and more variety in the phrasing and articulation. The same holds true for Rattle’s Berlin performance but is rather let down by EMI/Warner’s rather two-dimensional recording.
As heard in both Rattle’s recordings, the bass drum thwack connecting the fourth and fifth movements has a sharp, booming impact that hits the listener right in the gut. Rattle is more successful (using a slower tempo) at creating a gloomy, more brooding atmosphere in this opening. But the solo flute’s entry (2’14”) is extraordinarily beautiful, a moment of stasis, accompanied by the strings at a mere whisper. For anyone who still questions the wisdom of making Mahler’s sketches performable, this passage alone proves the wisdom of Cooke’s work.
The string playing is ravishing, the fragility of the softest playing breathtaking. The return of the opening movement’s dissonant pile-up is devastating, but with the shift into F-sharp major (18’23”) the playing becomes even more rapturous playing, achieving true emotional catharsis, the final bars bringing some level of healing and optimism.
In short, this incredibly passionate performance makes Cooke’s completion sound idiomatically Mahlerian. It is the most emotionally connected Mahler performance I have heard from these performers, which bodes well for the remaining symphonies yet to be released. Jeremy Barham’s notes are lucid and informative, and the BIS hibryd SACD recording is stupendous – urgently recommended.
Mahler – Symphony No. 10 (ed. Cooke)
Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä – Conductor
BIS Records, hybrid SACD BIS-2396
Recommended Comparisons
Read more classical music reviews or visit The Classic Review Amazon store
Follow Us and Comment:
Get our periodic classical music newsletter with our recent reviews, news and beginners guides.
We respect your privacy.
