Osmo Vänksä and the Minnesota Orchestra’s cycle of Mahler symphonies has so far received mixed reviews, largely on account of Vänskä’s unwillingness to perform the von-Karajan-like or Bernstein-like “cosmic-scale” cinematography that has become associated with Mahler’s 2nd, 5th, and 6th symphonies. In this new recording of Mahler’s 4th symphony, Vänskä’s usual reticence becomes a boon in the first and last movements, and he indulges in a few powerful moments where necessary. The music is rife first with uncertainty and, eventually, serenity, but it never becomes oversaturated. This recording is powerful, and should convert some skeptics.
The first movement states its themes and Vänskä is content the music does its own speaking. It’s in the development — or what passes for development — that Vänksä begins to exert his influence. Every rubato is approached and departed with subtle grace. Every melodic line that imitates the theme has its proper proportion. Minnesota’s skilled woodwind and brass players bring out the accents and jokes without ever compromising ensemble with the rest of the orchestra (the twisting bass lines from 7’30” are marvelous). And at the movement’s climax, when the pedal point is leading to the music’s most panic-filled moment (10’00”), I quite liked Vänskä’s choice to accelerate over the barline, as if spiraling out of control. Some may complain that the climax lacks power, but the truth is that for once, the percussion is not over-miked. As the themes are distorted in the recapitulation and coda, the Minnesota group continues to tug at the heartstrings — the horns at 11’45”, the strings at 12’40”, and Vänskä’s executes a hilarious accelerando to the closing allegro. This might not be Hollywood-level Mahler, but it is certainly cinematic.
The second movement lacks a sense of strong, dance-like pulse. It feels like it’s in 3 (which it is), but the dominant feeling should be 1 pulse per bar throughout, as in both Szell and Bernstein’s DG takes. There is too much value given to each note, and players don’t propel their lines over the barline.
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 – LPO, Jurowski
Interestingly, that lack of propulsion is what makes Vänskä’s Poco Adagio so devastatingly effective. The opening melody is suspended in time; every quarter note has its own, entirely subjective length and meaning. Some will object to beginning a theme and variations like this, but here it works because this is no ordinary set of variations. It’s as if this opening music is on a constant, heavenly repeat, and we’re just peeking in for a listen. The second, darker section is no less wonderful. The powerful glissandi in the strings and horns give goosebumps (6’25”, 7’30”). The strange (heavenly?) outbursts later in the movement are magnificent and star-struck, and here no one will complain about lack of timpani.
In the fourth movement, Carolyn Sampson is the star. Her tone is clear and honest, as Mahler requests, yet we can hear strains of the leisure she is supposedly enjoying in heaven. The earthly interruptions from the sleighbells are suitably biting and full of jealousy; Vänskä measures the spacing and tempo changes perfectly. This cast does not generate as dreamy, airy, wafting textures as those of Szell and Bernstein; the textures here are plainer but make something no less convincing: the matter-of-fact clarinet, the barely-poco-vibrato string tone, and Sampson’s warm but never sugary tone. It works because, as Jeremy Barham writes in the album’s liner essay, this is “an adult’s view of a child’s view of heaven.” We can imagine, but we also know better.
Some will complain that Vänskä still doesn’t conduct Mahler as we know and love; judging by only the second movement, I would agree. But for the rest, I find his approach perfectly subjective and cinematic. The outstanding recording quality and superb musicians combine with Vänskä’s light touch to make a wonderful addition to this cycle.
Mahler – Symphony No. 4
Carolyn Sampson – Soprano
Minnesota Orchestra
Osmo Vänskä – Conductor
BIS Records, Hybryd SACD BIS-2356
Mahler Symphony No. 4 – Recommended Comparisons
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