Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Recorded during concerts given at the Salzburg Festival, this Mahler Symphony No. 5 draws on the Vienna Philharmonic’s pedigree as an ensemble that first performed the work under the composer’s direction in 1905, and has since returned to it many times. Andris Nelsons possesses the authority and imagination required to shape an interpretation as rich in refreshing insights as it is respectful of the orchestra’s deep history and the letter of Mahler’s score. Listen, for instance, to the compelling way he manages the rise and fall of tension at the heart of the symphony’s storm-tossed second movement, or the strikingly individual characterisation of thematic ideas at the start of the finale, backed by top-drawer playing from the orchestra’s principal players and immaculate recorded sound. Nelsons’ daring vision amplifies the work’s jump-cut changes of mood and seemingly infinite expressive range without detracting from its overwhelming cumulative emotional impact or undermining its monumental architecture.