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Mahler: Symphony No. 5

John Barbirolli Audio CD
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
Price: £7.22 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Mahler: Symphony No. 5 + Mahler: Symphony No 2, 'Resurrection' + Mahler: Kindertotenlieder; Rückert-Lieder; Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
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Product details

  • Orchestra: New Philharmonia
  • Conductor: Sir John Barbirolli
  • Composer: Gustav Mahler
  • Audio CD (5 Oct 1998)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: EMI
  • ASIN: B00002439L
  • Other Editions: MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 35,161 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

1. First movement: Trauermarsch (In gemessenem Schritt. Streng. Wie ein Kondukt)
2. Second movement: Stürmisch bewegt (Mit größter Vehemenz)
3. Third movement: Scherzo (Kräftig, nicht zu schnell)
4. Fourth movement: Adagietto (Sehr langsam)
5. Fifth movement: Rondo - Finale (Allegro)

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk

The nine Mahler symphonies are such great musical achievements that no one recording can ever be definitive. That said, it is an immense pleasure to have the great Mahler conductor Sir John Barbirolli's 1969 account of the vast Fifth Symphony available on this current release. The recording is a Gramophone magazine Top 100 selection, chosen as one of the most important classical recordings ever issued and a cornerstone of any serious collection. Concordant with this status, the sound has been digitally remastered for exceptional quality, bringing out every detail of the original tapes, while reducing hiss and other blemishes to the absolute minimum. Here is warmth, insight and power, with Barbirolli allowing the symphony to live in its own time, unfolding over 74 minutes through the intensely dramatic "Sturmisch Bewegt", the timelessly beautiful "Adagietto" to the celebratory "Rondo-Finale". Issued as part of EMI Classics Great Recordings of the Century (a series that also includes Kathleen Ferrier in Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, and well as Klemperer conducting Das Lied von der Erde with Christa Ludwig and Fritz Wunderlich), this really is an essential album. However, those who insist on more modern sound will be well rewarded by Claudio Abbado's thrilling 1993 live recording of the same work, which finds the Berlin Philharmonic on absolutely top form. --Gary S. Dalkin

Product Description

CD John Barbirolli

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A PERFORMANCE TO TREASURE 15 Mar 2007
By Klingsor Tristan TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD
I have to take issue with Mr. Redfearn in his review below. "Barbirolli not really renowned for his Mahler interpretations"? Sir John was more responsible than any other conductor (pace Bernstein and Horenstein) for the renaissance in interest in Mahler's music through the 50's and early 60's. Under his aegis, the Halle had all the symphonies with the exception of No.8 in their repertoire before any other orchestra in the world - with the possible exception of Mengelberg's Concertgebouw. I first heard Nos.1, 5 and 6 under his baton and vividly remember early performances of Nos. 2, 3 and 7 from those days, too. Recordings - all of them worth hearing, some of them definitive - exist of all the symphonies bar No.8, plus Das Lied plus all the major song-cycles. No, Mr. Redfearn, Mahler's current high reputation would probably not exist were it not for the committed proselytising of Sir John when it was deeply unfashionable to support, never mind play him.

As for this recording of the Fifth, it has long been a classic of the gramophone. And deservedly so. Despite being, these days, probably the most popular of all the Mahler symphonies, it is not at all easy to bring off well. Mahler' music was in a stage of transition from his Wunderhorn period to the bleaker world of Symphonies 6 & 7. Here in No.5 he was trying out his new-found confidence in counterpoint and fugal writing. Here, too, is a newly won ability to play amazing sleight-of-hand tricks with his harmonic modulations, especially in the infamous Adagietto.

Barbirolli has a matchless ability to combine passion and the full weight of Romantic angst with intellectual rigour. The centre of gravity in the two linked first movements in Sir John's hands is the intense Kindertotenlieder derived funeral march rather than the trumpet and brass flourishes of the opening. He reveals how close its kinship is with all those other Mahlerian funeral marches from the First Symphony's slow movement through to the profound development in the Ninth's opening movement. The Scherzo is just glorious in this recording - impertinent, quirky, idiosyncratic, rumbustious, stompingly pesante by turns. The Adagietto is perhaps a little self-indulgently broad by modern standards, but Sir John is a master of all its conjuring tricks of enharmonic modulation from key to unexpected key. The final rondo, like so many of Mahler's finales, is the toughest movement to bring off. Barbirolli manages its tricky combination of Wunderhorn sarcasm with contrapuntal dexterity and fugal rigour perfectly. When the main theme of the Adagietto reappears here in Till Eulenspiegel style dress, Sir John catches just the right note of perkiness. And, as the chorale - so rudely cut off in its prime in the second movement - bursts through to the electrifying coda, it seems no less than the fitting end to this glorious performance.

A recording to treasure.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Mahler Symphony No.5 6 Jun 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a masterful performance of Mahler's fifth symphony. Sir John has such sympathy for Mahler's works that you almost feel he had written it himself as he gets so much passion from the music. This is Romantic music at its best.
In spite of being over forty years old the recording was digitally remastered in 1998 and is as clear and bright as any you will find today. If you only purchase one copy of Mahler's 5th, I would make it this one.
Mahler - Symphony No 5
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Peerless 28 Feb 2001
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Since its release this recording has been hors concours.

It is deeply emotional and heartfelt yet never over the top. I cannot see what the previous reviewer is complaining about with regard to the sound .

The Adagietto is far from the sickly soup it sometimes becomes . The Rondo Burleske has wonderful momentum.

Unmatched - buy it !!!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars How nice !
Hoodathunk that this music could be played without angst. If you're curious to see just how different a piece can be due to the conductor then buy this. Read more
Published on 28 April 2011 by Reiofe
4.0 out of 5 stars Not to everyone's taste
Just a very brief 'review' -
This recording may seem very dated to many people. It's slow (some may say self-indulgent), the sound quality and definition are poor and the... Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2010 by Anthony Friend
4.0 out of 5 stars A lovely, affectionate version - but perhaps now superseded?
I recently made some comparisons with another two recordings and found both the Abbado version with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the "sleeper" issue from Frank Shipway with... Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2010 by Ralph Moore
5.0 out of 5 stars Just buy it.
Have been listening to this wonderful recording for a couple of years and never tire of it. Do read Michael Kennedys 'Barbirolli'to find out what a great interpreter of Mahler Sir... Read more
Published on 6 July 2009 by Mr. N. A. Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive
This is the best performance of this great symphony ever recorded!
An essential item.
Published on 1 Feb 2009 by lensman 23
5.0 out of 5 stars Set the standard
This wonderful performance set the standard for recordings of this (my favourite Mahler) symphony. It still seems perfect and for years there was nothing to touch it in the... Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2008 by enthusiast
3.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece, but poorly transferred to CD
EMI has made many excellent transferrals of fine analog recordings to CD - this isn't one of them. The sound is harsh in the digital way, but it may not be a problem if your system... Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2008 by Encore
4.0 out of 5 stars Mahler at his best
I have always been unsure of Mahler - perhaps its the sense of his being on the edge i.e his music is the antithesis of say the music of Bach, Haydn and Mozart. Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2008 by Aquinas
5.0 out of 5 stars Glorious
Many years ago now, it was this recording that introduced me to the intense world of Mahler. On CD it is just as memorable and moving, with good sound and depth, and retaining all... Read more
Published on 19 Dec 2007 by Guy Whit
5.0 out of 5 stars Good to my ears
I have just revisited this recording after having listened to Abbado with the Berliners on DG and also Bernsteins 1988 recording with the Vienna Phil.also DG. Read more
Published on 1 Nov 2007 by stephenjohn0
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