Mahler
Symphony No. 5
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Michael Tilson Thomas
Recorded January 25, 1972, at Symphony Hall, Boston
Reviewed by: Rob Pennock
Reviewed: July 2025
CD No: High Definition Tape Transfers: CD and high-resolution downloads: HDTT23318
Duration: 68:14
Michael Tilson Thomas is now 80 and has a full Mahler Symphony cycle under his belt (who doesn’t?). But back in 1972 the still magnificent Boston Symphony had only programmed the Fifth once during the 1960s. So this release looked pretty interesting.
In the Funeral March Tilson Thomas’ opening fanfare is forward moving and he eschews marked changes of tempo, but still characterises each section, without conveying the doom laden angst of Barbirolli or Bernstein in any of his versions. The Sturmisch Bewegt second movement is suitably vehement but the performance loses tension in the Drangen transition to the Bedeutend langsamer theme at 1.24, where the tempo doesn’t seem the same, as marked, as the opening of the first movement and some of the wind phrasing is perfunctory. Much the same happens in the Scherzo where Tilson Thomas can sound caught between the bar-lines and the dances lack Barbirolli’s lilting phrasing and melancholy.
As you might expect the Boston strings are superb in the Adagietto and despite being much faster than in San Francisco he still creates a sense of repose. The Rondo finale is light and playful but again there is a degree of rhythmic stiffness and he can’t equal Bernstein’s drving power, although in total the performance is preferable to his San Francisco account.
The sound derives from a 15ips 2 track tape from the Clark Johnsen archive. Using the DSD256 download it doesn’t sound like a trouser leg job, but might come from one of WGBH’s Evening at the Symphony broadcasts. Whatever is the case, it is pretty good with plenty of projection, vibrant timpani and brass and excellent string tone, although the overall weight of tone is light.