Pentatone’s Mahler symphony cycle with the Czech Philharmonic has reached its midpoint with this release. Reviews of the four previous recordings (Symphonies 1, 2, 4 and 5) have been decidedly mixed, but having written positively about their Smetana (review) and Dvořák (review) albums, I was anxious to hear their Mahler.
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The sophisticated finesse and tonal sumptuousness of the Czech Philharmonic is brilliantly captured by Pentatone’s engineering. I cannot think of another recording of this symphony with better sound – I would argue it even eclipses what BIS provided the Minnesota Orchestra in its recent recording. The Czech woodwinds have a presence in the overall balance like Klemperer’s Philharmonia/EMI recordings. Brass and percussion have tremendous power when required, but their sound and color at softer levels is just as impressive. The ease with which the strings switch between velvety richness and slender suppleness is a constant source of pleasure. One can sense the deep pride this orchestra takes in its unanimity, warmth, and flexibility, a level of technical perfection few can match.
I didn’t feel Bychkov’s interpretation completely matched this inspired level of playing. There is no doubting his firm grasp on the music’s architecture. The first movement, taken at particularly spacious tempos, holds together convincingly, with every phrase carefully sculpted and tempo changes convincingly organic. Orchestral balance is beautifully managed, and he scrupulously follows Mahler’s detailed score instructions. Unfortunately, the expressive range of the performance feels reigned in, unwilling to explore the music’s heightened emotional state.
The opening horn statement and powerful declarations from the solo trombone suggest an atmosphere of deep struggle and conflict. But Bychkov charts a more moderate emotional journey; the angst and wonder so clearly heard and felt in Bernstein’s New York readings (Sony Classical & DG) or Tennstedt’s live London performance (ICA Classics) are not explored here. The conclusion of the Development, where Pan’s awakening reaches a fevered pitch, passes by with an almost perverse gentleness. And in the Coda, I was desperate for Bychkov to allow the music to rush headfirst into the joy of spring and new life, even if it overwhelmed the precision and neatness of the playing. But he never loosens his grip, maintaining a steady tempo that mutes any sense of emotional catharsis.
The delicate, captivating colors of the second movement do capture the spirit of the “flowers in a meadow.” The third movement also convinces, but it never finds enough forward momentum, and I would have liked a larger sense of distance for the post-horn solos. The climax just before the Coda is surely meant to evoke more terror than it does here (it certainly does in Ivan Fischer’s Budapest Festival Orchestra performance on Channel Classics). Once again, the Coda is too slow: a faster tempo more vividly captures the wild unpredictability of nature.
Mezzo Catriona Morison’s performance of Nietzsche’s “Midnight Song” creates a general pensive mood that leaves more subtle nuances of text unexplored (for that turn to Janet Baker under Tilson Thomas on Sony Classical or Gerhild Romberger in the Budapest/Fischer performance). The full-throated singing of the Prague Philharmonic Choir and Pueri gaudentes in the fifth movement is joyful, but there is a greater degree of dramatic contrast in this music (capturing the differences of sacred and profane in the text) in other performances.
Semyon Bychkov performing Mahler’s 3rd with the Czech Philharmonic (©️ Petr Kadlec)
The final movement is again spaciously conceived (25’20”), but the intense beauty of the playing suggests a deeper emotional connection on Bychokov’s part, though again, the three passages in which the music stumbles on its path to heavenly love feel understated compared to Bernstein and Tennstedt. My first and only ‘goosebump moment’ came in the final bars of the Coda, and its particularly gorgeous final chord.
Despite my issues with interpretation, I enjoyed this reading and would readily turn to it if I wanted to focus on brilliant playing and/or the originality of Mahler’s writing. Each time I listened I found myself focusing on the music’s structure, how Mahler creates his sound world, and how perfectly this orchestra creates that world. But in the readings mentioned above, and with Abbado’s final Berlin recording (DG), those technical aspects become secondary to Mahler’s spiritual and emotional expression. If readers find my preferred performances overly emotional, this new recording could easily become their new favorite.
Recommended Comparisons:
Bernstein (NY) | Abbado (Berlin) | Tennstedt | Tilson Thomas
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Album Details |
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|---|---|
| Album name | Mahler – symphony No. 3 |
| Label | Pentatone |
| Catalogue No. | PTC5187363 |
| Amazon Music link | Stream here |
| Apple Music link | Stream here |
| Artists | Catriona Morison (mezzo) Czech Philharmonic and Choirs Semyon Bychkov |
