The Orchester symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and its conductor Rafael Payare performed the iconic Symphony noh 5 in C sharp minor of Mahler no less than three times this week, in Washington, New York and Montreal. The odyssey has nevertheless been paved by regular attendance at the work, particularly in the context of the recording released in recent days by Pentatone. A fruitful proposal that inaugurates the OSM-Payare marriage on record.
Recorded at the Maison symphonique last August in front of an audience invited by the orchestra, the symphony had been rehearsed the previous month at the Festival de Lanaudière and during a tour of South Korea. The Pentatone microphones, installed by a European-Quebec team (we notice Carl Talbot, of Analekta, in co-production), very well captured the sound atmosphere of the room, deep without too much reverberation, with enveloping bass.
Musically, Rafael Payare’s Mahler seems noticeably more mature to us than what he offered at the Fernand-Lindsay amphitheater. An effect of the Korean tour?
On the timing side, this Fifth remains quite brief, except if we compare – among the great versions on disc – to the testimonies of Neumann (Leipzig), Solti and the unclassifiable Scherchen.
But despite the generally rather upbeat tempos, the conductor allows the musical material to unfold more, particularly in the first movement, whose affliction was hard to perceive in Lanaudière (Mahler writes Trauermarsch, funeral parade). The Scherzo (nicht eilendo not hurry) also seems to us to breathe more, more detailed.
However, we remain a little unsatisfied (like last summer) for the Adagietto. Without falling into a Viscontian languor, we could be even a little more “out of time”. It’s not so much a question of tempo, but rather how to fill the sound space, a question of flexibility.
The OSM shines brightly on this disc, right from the imperious entry of trumpeter Paul Merkelo from the very beginning.
A beautiful calling card for the orchestra and its conductor!
Classical music
Symphony noh 5 by Gustav Mahler
Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Payare
pentatone