Mahler’s Brilliant 5th at San Francisco Symphony
To my mind, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor, composed in 1902, is without doubt the greatest symphony of the twentieth century, rivaled only by Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. I might even claim that Mahler’s Fifth is the greatest symphony since Beethoven, rivaled only by the Brahms Fourth. Rankings aside, however, no one, I believe, can hear Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in a live performance by a top-level orchestra and come away unmoved and unimpressed. Surely everyone who heard one of the four performances this week of Mahler’s Fifth by San Francisco Symphony came away with a sense of awe and appreciation for this giant of a symphony. (Due in part to its 75-minute length, but also because of its bold ambitions and enormous wealth of detail, Mahler’s Fifth is often nicknamed the “Giant.”) -more-
