Mahler: Symphony No. 5

Rattle made this recording at the start of his time as the Berlin Philharmonic’s music director, setting the bar impressively high for their forthcoming complete cycle of Mahler’s symphonies. The big-scale, five-movement structure of the Fifth opens with a dramatic funeral march; there’s a prominent solo role for the principal trumpet, delivered here with glittering splendor. The symphony’s centerpiece is an enormous “Scherzo” movement, a whirling dance of life offset by dreamy pastoral interludes, and dominated by the principal horn, here another magnificent player. Next comes the “Adagietto” for strings and harp, composed by Mahler as a love song for his young wife Alma; while many conductors draw out this music at a dirgelike pace, Rattle allows it to flow naturally and beautifully. And the roistering “Finale” crackles with virtuosity from every section of the orchestra.