Conductor
Francois-Xavier Roth
is in the midst of a cycle of
Mahler
's symphonies, but he has recorded them with different groups, turning midway through to his historical instrument ensemble,
Les Siecles
. Here, the group uses Viennese instruments, with gut strings, from the first decade of the 20th century, and the sound is presumably close to what
himself would have heard. It is quite distinctive, with the same virtues that have drawn listeners to historical performances of music from other eras. The strings are biting rather than lush, the winds and brass penetrating and sharp, the tempos generally quick. The ironic-sounding scordatura violin in the second movement has a particularly pungent effect.
Roth
can, however, calm the edgy sounds; the slow movement has an unusually gentle, floating quality, and in the finale, with an excellent turn from soprano
Sabine Devieilhe
, the music is genuinely childlike in the best way. Some will wonder whether historical performance principles really have much applicability to the music of
, in some ways, the paradigm of the modern conductor. Some will miss the neurotic quality of the first two movements, which comes through better in modern performances, but this is an absolutely distinctive reading of
, one that has been rewarded with an appearance on classical best-seller charts in the late summer of 2022. ~ James Manheim