Discography

Mahler, Gustav: Sinfonie Nr. 5 cis-Moll

Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest

(Live)

NedPhO 1014, 1995

Enthaltene Werke

Mahler, Gustav: Sinfonie Nr. 5 cis-moll

Pressestimmen

Believe it or not, it wound up sitting on my shelf, still in its original shrink wrap, until just a month or so ago, when I decided that I wanted to listen to some more Mahler on SACD and remembered that I still had the Haenchen disc buried in my collection.

Oh. My. Goodness…

Both musically and sonically, this is one of the finest recordings of the Mahler Symphony No. 5 that I have ever heard. German conductor Hartmut Haenchen just seems to get everything right. Not too fast, not too slow. Plenty of dynamics, but not overblown exaggerations. The orchestra plays with precision and power, and the engineers have done a remarkable job of capturing a live concert performance in superb....

Neither of these recordings ever seems to get mentioned in discussions of Mahler recordings, but both are gems. Overlooked gems. I recommend them both very highly!
Karl W. Nehring

Ganze Rezension
https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com, 01. September 2021
...and Haenchen offers an exciting and lithe performance with none of the dawdling in the Adagietto frequently experienced in more famous recordings.
NZGUY

Ganze Rezension
https://meetinginmusic.blogspot.com, 01. January 2017
The best of 15 often recommended recordings

... then my opinion on the present recording by Haenchen, which in my view is the best in my collection of more than 15 recordings of Mahler's 5th. ...
I think Haenchen has 1) a first movement among the best, when it comes to responding to Mahler's «In gemessemem Schritt. Streng. Wie ein Konduct». Streng (Strict) is the key word; the funeral marsch is about facing tragedy with dignity. Haenchen delivers....
2) a second movement that is almost as good as the very best ...
3) a third movement which is on the brisk side, but never feels hurried, but that is a matter of habit, perhaps,
4) an adagietto which is timed almost perfectly at Mahler's own tempos, and is good, if not excellent,
5) a finale which without any shade of doubt is the very best of all the recordings I've listened to, with clear contrapuntal lines and very much joy, yes, it is fresh and giocoso, a wonderful celebration!
Musicus
Ganze Rezension
amazon.com, 01. July 2014