Mahler's Symphony No5 came to the general public through the fil "Death in Venice". It is a large scale work which needs to show the full range of emotional feeling that Mahler put into it. To my mind, there are only two recordings that do it justice. The benchmark performance is that done by Barbirolli on EMI with the Philharmonia Orchestra. The sound is warm and rich, particularly in the brass section and you have the feel of a live performance. If you want a current digital performance, then the Bernstein recording on DGG takes some beating. He brings out the shmaltz underlying the score without making it banal. The recording is bright, full and glorious. No other recordings need be considered. ...
Advantages: Scotto very good, overall strong cast, conducting not too fierce, well recorded Disadvantages: not as 'special' as some other sets, cast not very memorable even if able
This recording is often, somewhat unfairly, ignored.
For Renata Scotto many opera critics prefer her recording with John Barbirolli alongside Carlo Bergonzi (Tenor, Pinkerton) and the terrific Rolando Panerai (Sharpless) from the mid 1960s. This is because her voice was lighter and brighter in the 1960s and subsequently she sounds younger - more like the age of the young geisha she is portraying. However thanks to the rather fierce sounding treble in that recording some of her high notes could strip paint. By 1977 when this recording was made she had learnt how to maximise the creamy warmth of her voice and was pretty much at her peak. Listen to "Un bel di" and you can hear her at her peak. Personally I find some of her studio albums at this time to be the best of her work on record. Her acting is also superior with a near ...
Advantages: Superb production, fascinating footage, great music Disadvantages: None whatsoever apart from wanting more
others. Some of the conductors featured are Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Thomas Beecham, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Richard Strauss, Leopold Stokowski and Bruno Walter to single out a few names.
Right from the opening of the documentary you realise the high quality of the production values on this DVD as Beethoven's 5th Symphony segues seamlessly between different performances by very different conductors. Hearing the same piece conducted by Toscanini, von Karajan, Klemperer and Szell heightens the contrasts between the styles and interpretations of each of these highly individual maestri.
One of the big plus-points of this DVD is that along with copious extracts from performances and rehearsals, one is given complete performances of several works including Beethoven's "Egmont Overture" conducted by Serge Koussevitzky ...
