Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Mahler (Composer), Gustavo Dudamel (Conductor), Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezue (Orchestra)

Product Details

• Orchestra: Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezue
• Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel
• Composer: Mahler
• Audio CD (October 9, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000UNMUFK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,196 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Gustavo Dudamel presents his highly anticipated second album on Deutsche Grammophon. Again with the forces of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, the disc features another symphonic masterpiece - Mahler's captivating Symphony No. 5. Gustavo Dudamel's debut album of Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 caused a celebration in the music world and received ravishing reviews: "This is model music-making . . . every phrase is played with an exciting, deeply internalized sense of ownership that adult orchestras would do well to emulate." -The Philadelphia Inquirer

With its energetic outbursts, expressive cantilenas and constant changes of mood, Mahler's Symphony no. 5 is the ideal repertoire for showcasing the forces of the SBYOV and its conductor. Dudamel and the orchestra caused a sensation on their 2006 tour of Italy when Abbado, who was announced to conduct the symphony, handed the baton over to Dudamel at the last minute. Even in Abbado's home country, Gustavo and his orchestra pulled off a Mahler 5 that brought the euphoric audience to their feet. "Critics have called the Venezuelan phenomenon Gustavo Dudamel one of the most talented young conductors in the world - and they are absolutely right." -The New Yorker

Dudamel was recently named Esa-Pekka Salonen's successor as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Music Director beginning in the 2009-2010 season.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mahler Fifth rich with the thrill of discovery, October 19, 2007

By	Santa Fe listener - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

I was amazed some years back to hear a youth orhestra play the enormously challenging Mahler Fifth with virtuosic skill and freshness -- that CD featured the Junge Deutsche Philharmoniker under Rudolf Barshai (a budget release on Brilliant). Here we go a second time, and the results are even more extraordinary, for who could live farther from Vienna than children of Caracas, Venezuela? Yet these teenagers play with the thrill of discovery, and their magnetic prodigy of a conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, finds scintillating ways to illuminate this great work.

I don't know how any listener could fail to sit up and take notice -- it's a shame when originality isn't acknowledged and celebrated. The execution of the orchestra is terrific (just listen to the blazing first horn), and I imagine seeing them on stage would bring tears. To think that Mahler's genius could ignite passion in such an unlikely setting. Venezuela has promoted classical music as a national treasure, putting the public schools of the U.S. to shame. The Simon Bolivar orchestra is the cream of a very substantial crop of youth orchestras across the country. In addition, any cavil aobut the sonics here is misplaced -- this CD sounds exemplary.

Ultimately, however, judgment rests on the interpretation, and Dudamel fully justifies his recent appointment as the successor to Salonen with the Los Angeles Phil. On the whole Dudamel's interprettion is mroe delicate than any other I've heard, and the music blooms under his care. This is serious, deeply felt music-making. No wonder world-class orchestras are clamoring for Dudamel. Here his tempos are faster than usual at times, but that's a trivial criterion -- what counts is his expressive flexibility, his imaginative phrasing, his way with nuance and power combined. There's not a trace of bombast or rhetoric. Indeed, he eclipses Bernstein's extroverted mastery with its exact opposite.

I couldn't get on the bandwagon for Dudamel's debut CD of the Beethoven Fifth and Seventh, but this new release has converted me. We are witnessing a great maestro in his first, exciting phase.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Most Worthy Calling Card!, November 2, 2007

By	Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The miracle/mystery of the gift of great conducting is something audiences for ages have pondered. Given the schooling, the influence in early life of some great mentors, the opportunities or good fortunes that open to certain young conductors - given these and other factors, why is it that only a few conductors are great? And while no one purports to have the answer, the chief factor seems to be the innate musicality of the gifted ones. Gustavo Dudamel has the gift, the insight into the minds of composers, the ability to step onto a podium with assured preparedness, the means of communicating his thoughts and concepts to his orchestra, and the resulting stimulation of his audiences to become wholly involved with the music of the moment.

While most every classical music devotee probably has multiple fine recordings of Gustav Mahler's challenging and exquisitely passionate Fifth Symphony, few of those polished recordings played by the big orchestras of the world and recorded in acoustically mellow halls/studios can excite the ear and heart the way that this recording by Dudamel and his Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela can. The approach is straight forward, as though Dudamel conversed directly with Mahler, the insights are gleaming (inner lines have rarely been so clear, portions of the orchestration which has been muddy under the baton of others finds clarity and passion combined, etc), and the symphony makes complete sense as a whole rather than as a series of individual movements. High words of praise? Yes, but for this listener, having just witnessed Dudamel and his orchestra visiting in the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, there have been few equals in the interpretation and playing of this mammoth score. The first desk players are superb (the solo French Horn in the third movement is near perfect) and the commitment of the orchestra to their maestro is evident and unflagging throughout the long symphony.

Dudamel and Mahler - prepare for an impressive association. Fortune has smiled on the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Dudamel approaches his role of Music Director in 2009. The hall, his musicality, and the emotional impact of Gustavo Dudamel with the Los Angeles Philharmonic bode well for the music world. This fine recording with his own orchestra of gifted young people is a stunning calling card! Grady Harp, November 07

40 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not exceptional in a crowded field, October 11, 2007

By	L. Johan Modée (Earth) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Together with Christian Thielemann, the Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel (b. 1981) has recently been hailed as the new, young star conductor of Deutsche Grammophon after his Beethoven symphony 5 & 7 recording with the Simón Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra.

The present following-up features Mahler's fifth symphony, recorded in February 2006 in Aula Magna, Ciudad Universitaria, Caracas. Again, the same orchestra is used.

First, let me say that this is not a bad Mahler interpretation. But it offers no particular new insights, given the current catalogue of Mahler fifths. One could perhaps expected some radical or personal interpretational aspects, given a third world youth orchestra and a young, talented conductor. But, surprisingly, it is mainly a very conventional approach, apart from some very swift tempos here and there. The general and predictable formula appears to be that loud sections are played fast while piano and pianissimo are played slower (and even slower). This works quite well in the two first movements, but less well in the final three. The scherzo never really swings, as in, e.g., Barshai's and Kubelik's outstanding interpretations. And, as expected, given Dudamel's conception, the adagietto is nothing but uninspired - very slow and nothing else. Finally, the complex structure of the finale falls apart; it never forms a coherent whole as in the best interpretations (for example, Barshai, Gielen, Walter, Kubelik, Schwarz, Bernstein).

In sum, then, this a mainstream, predictable, somewhat tedious but not a very bad interpretation. Moreover, the orchestra is good but not exceptional.

Second, however, I must say that the recorded sound is a real drawback. I suppose the main reason is the dry acoustics of Aula Magna at Ciudad Universitaria. Because the sound, even if it offers both presence and detail, strikes me as quite boxy and lifeless.

Given its "post colonial" media aspect, this recording (as a media feature as such) is perhaps more interesting than the Karajan, Sinopoli and Abbado mainstream interpretations we have from the same label. But it is in no way exceptional in terms of its interpretation only, given the catalogue with many outstanding Mahler fifths. First contemporary choices should be Barshai (Brilliant), Gielen (Hänssler), Bertini (EMI), Zander (Telarc), and Gatti (Conifer). And among the classics, we have Kubelik (Tahra, DG and Audite), Walter (Sony), Barbirolli (EMI), Bernstein (DG), and Schwartz (Everest). Any of these should be considered as better "first choices" than the present recording. At least if you're interested in outstanding interpretations. But, of course, Dudamel's position as a young star conductor will attract many music consumers - especially those who love "stars".

Performance: three stars.
Hype: five stars and beyond.
Total: four stars.