Leonard Bernstein led the way in the modern revival of Mahler, and he also set the tone for how several of the symphonies (#2, 3, 6, and 7) are still played today. The Fifth isn't one of those groundbreaking readings. His poor version with the NY Phil. in the sixties was followed by this live 1987 performance from Vienna. Other conductors have given us greater Fifths, including Abbado, Karajan, Barbirolli, and Solti. It seems weird for me to say that Solti could have bettered Bernstein in Mahler, but in this case I think it's true.

The essential problem is that Bernstein decided to overinterpret this already turbulnet work, and by underlining and overemphasizing every contrast and conflict, his reading emerges as overblown and disjointed. I cringed this spring during a Chicago Sym. concert in which Daniel Barenboim pulled the first movement around like taffy, but if anything Bernstein is worse. The slow sections are ponderous, the tempo shifts arbitrary and sudden, the phrasing distended with rubato.

It's not as though he does this with every Mahler symphony--it's fair to say, in fact, that only the Fifth put Bernstein in such an extreme mood. The second and third movements return to sanity with readings that adhere (more or less) to the score. The Vienna Phil. plays stupendously, but expect every bar to sound larger than life--we're on permanent apocalypse.

The tender Adagietto is taken fairly slowly at 11 min. but without undue distortion. Bernstein keeps the melodic line moving naturally. In all, a lovely account which evokes genuine feeling. The finale is another example of extreme manipulation and distortion on Bernstein's part (the opening bars puff in and out like a hurdy-gurdy), but I'm aware that what I call manipulation passes for genius with listeners like the Amazon reviewer who believes that Bernstein "owns" this symphony. I wish he did, much as I love his other Mahler.
Leonard Bernstein led the way in the modern revival of Mahler, and he also set the tone for how several of the symphonies (#2, 3, 6, and 7) are still played today. The Fifth isn't one of those groundbreaking readings. His poor version with the NY Phil. in the sixties was followed by this live 1987 performance from Vienna. Other conductors have given us greater Fifths, including Abbado, Karajan, Barbirolli, and Solti. It seems weird for me to say that Solti could have bettered Bernstein in Mahler, but in this case I think it's true. The essential problem is that Bernstein decided to overinterpret this already turbulnet work, and by underlining and overemphasizing every contrast and conflict, his reading emerges as overblown and disjointed. I cringed this spring during a Chicago Sym. concert in which Daniel Barenboim pulled the first movement around like taffy, but if anything Bernstein is worse. The slow sections are ponderous, the tempo shifts arbitrary and sudden, the phrasing distended with rubato. It's not as though he does this with every Mahler symphony--it's fair to say, in fact, that only the Fifth put Bernstein in such an extreme mood. The second and third movements return to sanity with readings that adhere (more or less) to the score. The Vienna Phil. plays stupendously, but expect every bar to sound larger than life--we're on permanent apocalypse. The tender Adagietto is taken fairly slowly at 11 min. but without undue distortion. Bernstein keeps the melodic line moving naturally. In all, a lovely account which evokes genuine feeling. The finale is another example of extreme manipulation and distortion on Bernstein's part (the opening bars puff in and out like a hurdy-gurdy), but I'm aware that what I call manipulation passes for genius with listeners like the Amazon reviewer who believes that Bernstein "owns" this symphony. I wish he did, much as I love his other Mahler.