Mahler: Symphony No. 5 (Live)

Well, five stars for the effort anyway

     

Maazel gives a nobel attempt at these works many of which have a long and rich history with the orchestra. His live perfrmances of the cycle (for some reason excluding his last performance of the eighth that is not included in this set yet) is earnest, yet lacking passion. I find the the overall pace in this recording and his cycle as a whole to be too relaxed for my tastes and this in turn sounds to my ear a bit lack-luster as a result. Perhaps it's an artifact of the live performance but I sense no real life in these recordings. The Boulez realizations are more to my taste but if you listen to this recording you might find something worthwhile. Maazel was good for his time but it's obvious now that he is near the end of his career. These sets of recordings are a taste of musical history but little more that that.