02/12/2022
RELEASE DAY! MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 5
We are so excited to announce the full release of our critically acclaimed recording of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony performed by David Bernard conducting the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony. Click here to stream, download or purchase this release from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Target and other outlets: https://bit.ly/PACSMahler5Links
"In the first movement Bernard maintains a solid, forward-moving rhythm, the music gradually building into a heady climax. It’s a steadfast, firmly grounded interpretation that eschews histrionics in favor of an unwavering fidelity to Mahler’s intentions. The Park Avenue ensemble is equally up to the task of handling Mahler….The celebrated Adagietto emerges perfectly, conveying Mahler’s obvious affection yet not dipping into sentimentality. It’s a sweet, compelling, and still highly emotional approach…In the Finale, Maestro Bernard lets the work’s effulgent joy shine radiantly through, concluding a thoroughly enjoyable reading…They recorded the symphony at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, NYC in May 2022. The opening trumpet notes set the stage for sound that has depth, dimension, and spaciousness. It’s clean, transparent sound…Both the audiophile and the casual listener should enjoy the sound." Classical Candor (full review: https://bit.ly/ClassicalCandorPACSMahler5Review )
“Bernard is highly sensitive to individual instrumental touches: the prominence of the snare drum sets the mood very effectively, as does keeping the brass in the forefront and giving a plaintive sound to the faster section after the initial mournful one. Bernard’s care with rhythm makes the three short notes and one longer one sound clearly akin to the opening of, yes, Beethoven’s Fifth – an interesting parallel not always brought forth to this extent…Its aural clarity is impressive. The movement here is more stylized, less anguished, than it is for Bychkov, but it becomes more dramatic toward the end and has a very well-done conclusion…There is a thoughtfulness here to the slower sections, making them more ruminative and questioning than usual; there is also more rubato between sections to emphasize their emotional contrasts through stronger differentiation of tempos. In the third movement, Bernard shows how Mahler stretches dance forms even while inhabiting them…There is an almost oceanic feel to this movement, a sense of constant ebb and flow brought out to fine effect. The dissonances come through with considerable piquancy; the chamber-music treatment of individual instruments is admirably clear; and the movement’s final section is highly dramatic. Again there is a strong contrast between the end of this movement and the start of the next, with Bernard using a slightly slower pace than Bychkov does for the Adagietto, if still not really “very slow.” There is great beauty here in the simplicity of the basic theme and its flow, however, with a pervasive mood of gentleness rather than ardor. The movement is pretty, and more naïve than it usually comes across as being: there is no real sense of yearning…Bernard’s reading of the finale is more cohesive than Bychkov’s, with a greater sense of building to a suitable conclusion. The movement’s meanderings do not seem pointless, much less unclear or incoherent: there is a sense that it is definitely going somewhere, even if the destination is not known until the chorale at the end.”
“Neither of these performances is less than excellent, and neither is, strictly speaking, “better” than the other. Anything can be nitpicked: Bychkov is a bit stronger in Part I of the symphony, Bernard in Part III – especially in the finale. But both orchestras perform admirably, both conductors clearly understand this music and have given considerable thought to the best way to present it, and both here show themselves to be quite worthy of Mahler – and prove that his Symphony No. 5 is quite worthy of their time, attention, and very considerable skill.”
--Infodad/Trans Century Communications (full review: https://bit.ly/InfodadPACSMahler5Review )
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