In a recent issue of our newsletter we invited customer feedback. Our first response has come from Mike Roberts, who took issue with my reference to Valery Gergiev’s “distinctly individual approach” to Mahler 6. Mike writes: “Tosh!! I refer you to the late, great, George Szell’s live Severance Hall recording with the Cleveland Orchestra which I have long had as Sony SBK47654 and which the Gramophone Guide refered to as “buried treasure”. Szell’s timings for the movements are as near as dammit identical to Gergiev’s with the exception of the first movement, where Szell is four minutes shorter due to missing the repeat. The strange thing is that, to me, Szell does not sound as fast; in fact at times he sounds positively expansive compared to Gergiev, but he must be travelling at the same speed! Gergiev’s recording with the LSO is very bright, Szell’s is more velvety, Mahlerian, and yes, dated. I very much enjoyed Gergiev and would encourage anyone interested to purchase a copy; they will not be disappointed. But in the end true quality shows - Szell and his Clevelanders do it for me. I would recommend your customers to buy both recordings if this is still possible.” [Ed. Note: The Szell recording is currently available at £9.99, ref. 88697 008132.]
Being unable to resist a challenge (especially one beginning “Tosh!”) I rushed off and borrowed a copy of the 1967 Szell recording, as well as listening to the new Haitink recording with the Chicago SO and dipping into various others. I share Mike’s liking for Szell’s approach; taking into account his omission of the first movement repeat, the timings are uncannily similar, and the overall effect is dramatic yet undeniably Mahlerian. If we analyze the first movement in detail, Gergiev actually takes the driven march tune at a faster pulse than Szell, but slows more for the melody identified with Alma Mahler. The attack of the strings, wind and brass is more sharply defined under Gergiev; and he generally obtains a more fluid reading of the individual parts than Szell, whose approach is (to my ears) a little four-square at times. I think these aspects all contribute to the greater sense of urgency in Gergiev’s recording. There are many moments of great beauty in both accounts; but for me, the uncanny sense of menace and restlessness in Gergiev’s reading, and the desperate violence and bleakness it expresses, are what make it stand out from other accounts. For the number-crunchers, Gergiev’s Scherzo is faster than Szell’s, although Barbirolli’s 1967 live Berlin Scherzo is faster still; Szell takes the Andante (which he chooses to place after the Scherzo) more slowly than both Gergiev and Abbado; and their final movements at under 29 minutes come in a full minute faster than Abbado. And what of Haitink? He last recorded this symphony in 2001 with the Orchestre National de France, in a reading which was more expansive than all those mentioned above. His newly-released account with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is slower still, lasting 13 minutes longer than Gergiev’s. The orchestral sound is magnificent, but ultimately the tension suffers from the slow pace. Mahler himself wrote, “My Sixth will present riddles to the solution of which only a generation which has previously absorbed and digested my first five symphonies will dare to apply itself”. A century after its first performance, Mahler’s Sixth continues to puzzle.

Reviewed by Anne McAlister & Mike Roberts