Mahler Symphony No. 5 & Ades Aslya / Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic

Starring:Simon Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic
Studio: Angel Records
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
You can hear and see this excellent performance of Mahler's militant, stormy and sometimes ethereal Symphony No. 5 in standard DVD (on disc 1 of the set) or hear it in a variety of digital audio formats. A bonus DVD-Audio disc (without visuals) offers a choice of standard stereo or two varieties of surround sound. The surround sound is even richer and more precise than the standard DVD, and this matters with Mahler's colorful and finely detailed orchestration. But the video is useful for conveying Simon Rattle's expressive gestures, his fine control of the Berlin Philharmonic, and its precise playing in this his first performance as the orchestra's music director.

Customer Reviews:

Mahler Symphony # 5.......2007-04-05

Outstanding! A MUST for anyone who loves the music of Gustav Mahler.

Performance really shines in final three movements.......2006-07-14

I would love to give this DVD 5 stars but I felt somewhat uncomfortable with the first two movements. So I will say 4 3/4 stars. The first two movements of this symphony are extremely dramatic and passionate. If you play it as written, it has all the drama you would ever need. But many conductors try to add to the drama by messing with the dynamics and phrasing. When Leonard Bernstein recorded this symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic, he really overdid it in my humble opinion. Abbado, on the other hand, is usually quite conservative and plays Mahler straight. However, this is a live performance and the first two movements are just a tad overdone. The last three movements are just magnificent. If you love Mahler, this DVD is a must.

Its a joy.......2005-06-18

This DVD is really a joy for eyes and ears. They play wonderful and you can see them working hard to achieve these result. Many of them put all their bodies into their playing. Some of them, especially the oboist and a woman playing the clarinet make pretty funny faces while playing - yet this is not unusual, but normally you dont see it because in a concert you sit in front of the orchestra too far away to see such details. In this recording they show the soloists or the sections of the orchestra that play the dominant parts from nearby. So the camera too works following the composition, knowing precisely who plays what in a certain moment. When it comes to the solo part of a horn player you can see him play from nearby, when the timpani plays you see the player (mostly in his chair) doing his rolls. And it is the best audio recording of Mahlers 5th I ever heard.

An Excellent Centenary Performance of Mahler's Fifth.......2005-05-17

The première of Mahler's Fifth Symphony took place in Cologne on October 18 1904. This performance at the Lucerne Festival took place almost precisely one hundred years later in August 2004. The music is as fresh as if it had been written yesterday. I had some mixed feelings about Abbado's audio recording of the Fifth with the Berlin Philharmonic (although it gains something in its newish release on SACD) but I have no reservations about this live performance with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. First, a word about this orchestra. It has some orchestral superstars amongst its participants. Just look at some of the principals: Kolja Blacher, concertmaster; Wolfram Christ, principal viola; Franz Bartolomey and the fabulous Natalia Gutman, cello first desk; Alois Posch, contrabass; the Hagen Quartet in the sections, along with a couple from the Alban Berg Quartet; Jacques Zoon, flute; Albrecht Mayer, oboe; Sabine Meyer, clarinet, along with members of her Wind Ensemble (Bläserensemble); Stefan Schweigert, bassoon; Stefan Dohr, principal horn (he plays stunningly); Reinhold Friedrich, trumpet (he does, too); Mark Templeton, trombone. Wow! What a lineup! If you follow orchestral musicians you know this is very nearly the crème de la crème.

None of that would make a lot of difference if Abbado's direction was not distinguished. But it is. He molds every phrase precisely, clearly has thought and rethought his interpretation of this masterpiece, and he wrings all the drama, pathos, tenderness, heroism etc. from it. Rhythm and line are not sacrificed to overprecise nuance. Warmth and humanity are not diminished by attention to architectural detail. The first three movements have more dramatic edge that Abbado's earlier Berlin recording. The Adagietto is supremely beautiful but it does not dawdle (8:33) and thus become a dirge as is so often the case. It is, after all, a love song. The strings are simply fabulous throughout, with body and sheen aplenty, and plenty of bite in the dramatic and anguished moments.

There are other DVDs of Mahler's Fifth. I've not seen Barenboim's but am very fond of Rattle's with the Berlin. I like that performance but don't like the accompanying piece, Thomas Adès's 'Asyla,' for what that's worth. As far as audio recordings are concerned I'm extremely fond of Tennstedt with the London Philharmonic (only available, I think, these days in a budget twofer with the 'Lied von der Erde' with Agnes Baltsa and Klaus Konig, and not one of my favorites of that work) and of Barbirolli's, a little less so of Karajan's with the BPO. I tell you of my favorites on audio CD so you'll have an idea of what I tend to like. If they match your preferences, then you'll probably like this performance.

There is the usual video, but also a 'conductor's angle' (with the camera trained on Abbado from the orchestra player's perspective) available on this DVD. Sound is PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS 5.1. TT=74 minutes no extras except some trailers of other DVDs.

Scott Morrison

Mahler - Symphony No. 5 / Barenboim, Chicago Symphony

Average customer rating:

Very interesting performance of a rare mahlerian conductor.
Tribute to Bud Herseth
Inspired Unison!
very worthwhile
Beautiful, Passionate, the CSO DELIVERS!

Mahler - Symphony No. 5 / Barenboim, Chicago Symphony
Starring: Mahler , Chicago Symphony Orchestra , and Barenboim
Manufacturer: Arthaus Musik
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Mahler - Symphony No. 3 / Bernard Haitink, Berlin Philharmonic
Mahler - Symphony No. 2
Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7 / Bernard Haitink, Berlin Philharmonic
Sibelius - Violin Concerto /De Falla - Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 / Bernard Haitink, Berlin Philharmonic

ASIN: B00004UEE5
Release Date: 2000-08-01

Amazon.com

Daniel Barenboim's performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 5 begins with a certain sense of detachment and continues that way, seeming both calculated and calculating by turns. The composer's famous aphorism about the process of symphonic composition being in the nature of "building a world" is quoted in the excellent and detailed booklet notes (no shortage of scholarship here), so it's intriguing to observe how Barenboim chooses to contain the warmth and passion inherent in the work. In building a world, perhaps, one must perforce define its boundaries, yet at the same time it's this very process of containment that draws attention to these qualities. Musically, then, this is undoubtedly an interesting piece of work. In production terms, we're offered a very good argument for the DVD as a vehicle for orchestral performance. What may appear at first glance to be irritatingly skittish camerawork is in fact a perfect demonstration of how careful direction can draw attention to particular areas of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at exactly the right musical moment. The sound quality, though aggressively digital, is airy and detailed. --Roger Thomas, Amazon.co.uk

Customer Reviews:

Very interesting performance of a rare mahlerian conductor........2006-02-07

Daniel Barenboim didn't record too many Mahler works until today, we have to mention a wonderful recording of Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Dieskau and the Berliner Philharmoniker (Sony), a quite good Das Lied von der Erde with Chicago (Erato) and some lieder with Meier and the Orchestre de Paris (Erato).

I've listened Daniel Barenboim conducting Mahler, in the Teatro Real, in Madrid, where he conducted some years ago Mahler's First Symphony to the Berliner Staatskapelle, a really remarkable concert, one of the best I've ever been. Probably Mahler's music is not so close to Barenboim like Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner or some other great composer from the romantic period, and specially from the German tradition. Anyway, Barenboim's great conducting makes a remarkable Mahler, as I have listened live and in his recordings.

This Mahler's Fifth is a very good performance of a master piece, one of my favourite symphonic works. I have to say I prefer other versions on CD, like Riccardo Chailly's one (Decca) specially, or Bernstein's one (DG, CD or DVD), Abbado with Chicago (DG), even Haitink with Berlin offers an interesting interpretation. Barenboim's one is good, based on a magnificent orchestra that responds like a machine to the very high difficulties of this score. First and second movements always use to be very good played by this orchestra (like Abbado showed) and this time they make it very well one more time. The Scherzo is wonderfully played by the first horn of the CSO, Mr. Clevenger, a really outstanding player. Adagietto is smooth and full of charm, very sensitive and sensible to what the piece means. The Rondo Finale is very good too, with the Chicago Machine playing full of energy in the final fanfares. Some people have mentioned CSO brasses specially, I've to say that I love them but much more for repertoires like Shostakovich, Bruckner, Mahler or Bartók. Mahler's very sensitive music ask for a fine playing that sometimes I miss, sometimes, not always, in the very aggressive and hard Chicago brasses playing.

The sound is very good and the film too, taken in Köln (Germany), the same you can listen on CD in Teldec label.

Together with Bernstein (DG), the Mahler's Fifth I found more interesting on DVD, even more than Rattle's one with Berlin (EMI).

Tribute to Bud Herseth.......2004-11-09

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has the largest video archive of any orchestra in the country. From 1948-2001, only one man could be seen in every recording: CSO principal trumpet Adolph 'Bud' Herseth. This is the last visual recording Bud made with the orchestra, and what better choice of program could there be? Bud always played Mahler's 5th like it was written for him, and the well-deserved tribute he receives at the end of the performance is not just for another awe-inspiring performance, but for 53 years of showing the world how the trumpet can and should sound. This is a 1997 performance, and Bud was born in 1921... you do the math! This DVD should be seen by any brass player. The CSO's legendary tradition of excellence in brass-playing has never been more evident.

Inspired Unison!.......2004-05-29

After a struggle with the gloomy preoccupation with mortality in the first two parts, the symphony bursts forth into a celebration of life.

Daniel Barenboim's conducting is graceful and elegant--he's there for every phrase of music, and is completely involved with it.

If you're a fan of audio versions of this symphony, you'll really appreciate SEEING what's going on. Kudos to Video Director Bob Coles who has the cameras right there at the right time to catch specific players at their key moments.

This is definitely not a static view of a symphony performance. It moves and flows as individuals work together in inspired unison.

very worthwhile.......2002-12-29

Although this performance lacks the passionate quality that some others bring to this work, noticably Bernstein, it is a sensitive and observant one which, unlike the well known 1970 recording of Barenboim's predecessor in Chicago (i.e. Solti), is not marred by being overdriven in places. Nevertheless, the orchestral playing retains the blend of power and precision characteristic of this orchestra in this repertoire, particularly in the brass. Furthermore, the sound is excellent. If one is willing to pay the premium to have this work on DVD, this is definitely worth acquiring.

Beautiful, Passionate, the CSO DELIVERS!.......2002-11-29

I love Mahler! I have at least three recordings of every symphony and enjoy what each concuctor/director brings out of this composer's genius. However, watching the Fifth performed by the CSO is a real treat. I believe the brass in the CSO still sets the standard for orchestral playing. In fact in the first few bars you will see why Adolf Herseth is heralded as THE greatest orchestral trumpeter of all time. His playing is technically flawless and beautifully passionate. He IS the best. The entire orchestra is warm, rich and vibrant. I enjoyed every aspect of this performance. The interpretation is extremely romantic yet not overdone and the playing is tremendous. Brass players MUST see this performance; however, woodwind and string players will love this as well. Is there a better clarinetist than Larry Combs? This is a fabulous performance. Don't miss it!

Mahler Symphony No. 5 & Ades Aslya / Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic

Average customer rating:

Enthusiastic Convert
Brilliant Mahler Five; The Jury's Still Out on Adès
The very best
Rattle's visuals detract
a great dvd to own

Mahler Symphony No. 5 & Ades Aslya / Rattle, Berlin Philharmonic
Starring: Simon Rattle , and Berlin Philharmonic
Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008NJG6
Release Date: 2003-05-06

Amazon.com

You can hear and see this excellent performance of Mahler's militant, stormy and sometimes ethereal Symphony No. 5 in standard DVD (on disc 1 of the set) or hear it in a variety of digital audio formats. A bonus DVD-Audio disc (without visuals) offers a choice of standard stereo or two varieties of surround sound. The surround sound is even richer and more precise than the standard DVD, and this matters with Mahler's colorful and finely detailed orchestration. But the video is useful for conveying Simon Rattle's expressive gestures, his fine control of the Berlin Philharmonic, and its precise playing in this his first performance as the orchestra's music director.

Ades's Asyla (the plural of "Asylum," used in both its meanings, as a place of refuge and a scene of madness) is available only in the video format, which is sonically quite good and visually striking. It is energetic music, with a lot of percussion, including one piece that looks like a tomato juice can, and one movement that annotator Andrew Porter describes as "a sort of Rite of Spring cum disco." A video interview of Rattle is a fine bonus. --Joe McLellan

Customer Reviews:

Enthusiastic Convert.......2006-07-05

I came to this recording reluctantly. I was sulking because Barenboim had been passed over in favor of Rattle to head the BPO. I sampled the Ades piece which Rattle conducted at their inaugural concert and really did not like it. Then I selected the companion Mahler Fifth; the music pulled me in, and suddenly I found myself in an astounding sonic experience of one of my favorite symphonies. When the horn player brought his music stand forward and took center stage, I thought, "Wow! That's how it SHOULD be done!" The same soloist seems so forelorn in the back row in Abbado's otherwise lovely Fifth from Lucerne.
Once upon a time I was in the auditorium to hear Solti conduct Mahler's Fifth in combination with Mozart's 35th, and I treasure a laserdisc of this coupling which he did on another occasion in Tokyo. I have been fond of Mehta's recording in New York for a long time. I will always love those and other recordings, but now when I want to hear the Fifth, I will reach for Rattle first. I see now why the BPO elected him. I should have trusted their judgment.

Brilliant Mahler Five; The Jury's Still Out on Adès.......2005-10-05

More and more I'm coming to feel that the way I want my Mahler is via DVD. There is something about seeing, as well as hearing, the orchestra and the conductor that conduces to a more satisfying experience. I've reviewed - glowingly - several Mahler DVD performances: the Ninth (glorious!), Fifth (celebratory), and the 'Resurrection' (No. 2), all conducted by one of my favorite conductors, Claudio Abbado. Here we have direct competition with the Abbado Fifth by his successor with the Berlin Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle. Well, as I see it, you can't go wrong with either version. This Fifth is really special. And, by the way, it is available separately on regular CD, too. This DVD comes with a separate DVD-A that contains the audio only of the symphony; I can't compare the sound of the DVD-A with the CD because I've not heard the CD, but the sound on the DVD-A is pretty spectacular, if you should want to go that route. This was Rattle's inaugural 2002 concert with the BPO after assuming Abbado's mantle, and the sense of occasion is palpable.

A few high points: Principal horn Stefan Dohr comes to the front of the orchestra for his gorgeously played solos in the Scherzo. The Berlin Philharmonic play like gods and, mirabile dictu, I see them smiling much of the time! That's got to be at least partly a reaction to Rattle's irresistible enthusiasm. Those Berlin strings are unbeatable (except, some would say, by the Vienna Philharmonic) in, for instance, the pizzicati in the Scherzo and, even more impressive, in the Adagietto, which is certainly a love song in this performance. And it leads right up to a joyful finale. Yes, there is the dark undercurrent present, too, but as Rattle says of Mahler's position in this matter, 'love and counterpoint will remedy anything.'

The curtain raiser in this concert was 'Asyla' by the aging British Wunderkind, Thomas Adès. I will say straight off that I'm not a big fan of Mr Adès's music. While acknowledging his talent, I haven't found much of his to my own taste. Still, 'Asyla' is a brilliant tour de force of orchestration if nothing else, although as Martin Anderson comments in a review I'd read some months ago, it seems to be running in place throughout its twenty-minute length.

The bottom line: this is a magnificent Mahler Fifth, different from Abbado's in that it has more chiaroscuro, and equally valid. The extras include an interview of Rattle by Nicholas Kenyon. Sound is PCM Stereo, DTS 5.1 or Dolby Digital 5.1, and it is quite lifelike. One notices, momentarily, that when the camera is in the orchestra looking towards the conductor the audio perspective reverses so that first violins seem to be on the right, seconds on the left. Odd, even understandable, and not too bothersome.

Scott Morrison

The very best.......2005-09-06

Excellent performance + the best sound and picture in any DVD of classical performance I have.

Rattle's visuals detract.......2005-08-17

Interesting performance. Extremes in dynamics will challenge even the best sound systems. The strings become so soft at times that they lose quality, become raspy & suffer intonation problems. However, I find the performance heart-felt and at times moving. But, really, the players of the Berlin Philharmonic are artists, and to have to endure a conductor hovering over them, making demented faces and wild gestures is surely an insult and demeaning experience, and as such is a testiment to their powers of restraint. I would have thrown my mute at him after the 1st movement. Also, Mahler's instructions aside, I find the horn soloist being repositioned at the front problematic. Abbado's placing him alone at the back in the Lucernce performance is more effective, as it doesn't give promenance to accompanying motifs which the soloist sometimes plays. I have viewed the DVD once, but because of Rattle's antics I'll stick to the included sound-only DVD in the future.

a great dvd to own.......2005-03-16

The Berliner Philharmoniker hired Simon Rattle because they wanted to bring the level of playing and reputation back to the "glory days" under Karajan. I think Rattle is a better conductor then karajan ever was (Ok I said it!). He manages to bring out the best in the orchestra without holding them back. The orchestra sounds fantastic. All the solos sound great and the soft playing is exquisit.

Thomas Ades "Asyla" takes place in madhouse. It is a cool piece not to be overlooked. Some parts reminded me of George Crumb (perhaps it was the watergong) This piece is a good compliment to Mahler.

The Mahler is played wonderfully. I have about six recordings of this symphony, and while they all have something to offer, this performance struck me as being particulary good. The soft playing is simply amazing. Sometimes the louder parts were slightly distorted on my dolby system. Perhaps the mics were a bit hot, which helps explain the clearity of the soft spots. Rattle has a good command and knowledge of Mahler and it shows in this performance. It still offers something new everytime I listen to it.

This is a great DVD all around, despite the occasional distortion.

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