Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor

Mahler’s *Fifth* continues to inspire a bewilderingly varied range of interpretative approaches, from the glowing affection of John Barbirolli and Leonard Bernstein to the *Wunderhorn* deftness of Rafael Kubelik. Increasingly, as in this texturally ear-tweaking reading from Semyon Bychkov, the famous “Adagietto” is seen as an enchanting interlude rather than the symphony’s emotional nerve center. Throughout, Bychkov shines a spotlight on Mahler’s restlessly contrapuntal writing, illuminating all manner of middle-voiced detail that often gets submerged under a top- and bottom-heavy patina of tonal luxuriousness. Like Kubelik, he prefers aerated textures and buoyant articulation to legato soup, although interestingly his ability to have one listening to this music as if for the first time resembles most closely the “emperor of legato,” Herbert von Karajan. With the Czech Philharmonic in scintillating form, this set looks to become one of the defining Mahler cycles of the 21st century.