Mahler Mania, Rebooted

[Roasted Swan]

Continuing from a post on the "recent listening" thread about Wyn Morris and his Mahler recordings with the Symphonica of London.  I recall that on their original double LP release they received quite a lot of comment - mainly positive.  I relistened to his No.5 yesterday and enjoyed it a lot.  Its a weighty 'serious' interpretation, not full of angst and melodrama.  The Symphonica of London were an all-star pick-up band and the playing is very good (Alan Civil 1st horn as I recall?) but it is not the flawless polished offering that seems to be the norm now.  But does perfection come at a price?  Does Mahler need a sense of struggle and the will to overcome to make the final pages of a work such as No.5 even more triumphant and exulting?  I must admit I personally prefer the Adagietto to be flowing and lyrical as here - the emotion is still there but all the better for being held not gushed over the listener. 

I have a couple of his other Mahlers as well as a few recordings from his discography (his LSO/Beethoven cycle was rightly praised on the forum recently) so I think I might go on a little bit of a Wyn Morris retrospective........