Having included the Adagio alone in his complete Denon cycle of the symphonies (1/88), Inbal now tackles Deryck Cooke's performing version of Mahler's draft for the whole work. The CD inlay misleadingly refers to the ''1st performing version'', although Inbal uses the score published in 1976 (as opposed to the 1989 revision of it) and not the still tentative edition recorded by Ormandy in the 1960s for CBS (10/90). In some respects, Inbal is more faithful to the substance (if not the dynamics) of Cooke's text than Rattle in his celebrated EMI recording: he restores the xylophone to the second Scherzo—most convincingly done here—and chooses not to link that movement with the finale by omitting its opening drum stroke. Incidentally, both conductors make the most of Cooke's large military drum, Chailly (Decca) takes his cue from Mahler's apparent desire for something more muffled.
While Inbal is generally less intense than his rivals, his interpretation is by no means without interest. He is of course, helped by the typically open and realistic sound captured by Denon's engineers in the Frankfurt Alte Oper. He also has an orchestra which, though lacking the weight of sound available in Vienna or Berlin, knows him exceptionally well and is capable of producing svelte, lustrous tone when required. (There is just occasionally an unwanted edge to high-lying violin passages and what could be an uncharacteristic touch of knob-twiddling to boost the strings.)
Despite eloquent outlying sections and some carefully coaxed portamentos, this Adagio can seem a little swift and superficial on first hearing. Always lucid and carefully balanced, Inbal's no-nonsense approach takes some getting used to and you may find the music tending to fall into distinct blocks. The second movement is nothing if not consistent with the first, unusually airy and light. And even the ''Purgatorio'' sounds fresh and Bohemian rather than the stuff of nightmares. In the finale, there is not doubt that Rattle operates on a much higher level of dramatic tension, yet there is something to be said for Inbal's cool ahmost translucent approach to its lyrical elements. The Allegro moderato section may be comparatively underpowered but the rhythms are more naturally articulated than usual and the return of the overwhelming dissonance from the Adagio is thankfully unbolstered by percussion. The most controversial detail of the performance is likely to be the heart-rending final cry, executed here with a massive, deliberately ununanimous glissando. Such an effect is, at least superficially, at odds with the nobility, refinement and restraint which characterize this stimulating and often extraordinarily beautiful account. The disc is generously indexed and comes with a helpful analysis.'