Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in D minor

Hanna Hipp (mezzo), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Chorus, Tiffin Boys' Choir
Vasily Petrenko

Harmonia Mundi: HMM90542122
https://www.harmoniamundi.com/en/


Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in D minor is a work that dares almost too much. Six movements, the best part of a hundred minutes, and a programme that runs from the awakening of Pan to a final movement of wordless, all-embracing love: it asks a conductor to hold together a vast orchestra, a mezzo-soprano soloist, a boys' choir and a women's chorus without the whole edifice splintering into episodes. I went into this recording expecting admiration. I came out with something closer to reappraisal as Petrenko unlocked Mahler's cosmic Third and the RPO, and Harmonia Mundi's engineers are on inspired form

From the opening bars, the quality shines through in spades. Eight horns herald a performance that has made me reassess and admire this symphony afresh under Vasily Petrenko's direction. The expansive sound, the attention to detail, the full symphonic dynamic range and the shaping of every nuance combine to make this a magnificent recording. The strings are delightful throughout, and the trombone solo in the first movement is superb, principal trombonist Matthew Gee finding both weight and eloquence in music that can too easily sound merely loud. The luxurious sound and the acoustic of this live recording serve the performance well.

If there is a reservation, it concerns mezzo-soprano Hanna Hipp, whose account of the "O Mensch!" setting in the fourth movement left me wanting more: a touch more interpretative daring, a wider range of dynamics and vibrato. It is a small niggle in a performance otherwise so richly stocked with incident. The Tiffin Boys' Choir, joined by the Philharmonia Chorus for the bell-song fifth movement, bring exactly the bright, unaffected energy that music demands, and the woodwind and brass are on top form throughout.

The final movement, that long, unhurried Adagio which Mahler asks to be played "felt, but without exaggeration", is sublime here, its closing crescendo one of the most satisfying I have heard on disc. This is a recording I will return to again and again.

A live recording made in the Royal Albert Hall carries obvious risks, not least an audience of some three thousand souls trying to stay silent for the best part of an hour and forty minutes, but this is a performance that rides them and emerges magnificent. Everything about it pleases, even allowing for close miking that occasionally makes its presence felt; Harmonia Mundi's team have captured a performance with real energy rather than merely a well-behaved studio facsimile.

At one hour and thirty-eight minutes, there is a great deal here to savour, and the audience, audibly, savoured it. Despite my small niggles, this is a recording I thoroughly enjoyed, and one I suspect every Mahlerian will want on their shelf. I certainly intend to keep it on mine.