This is Benjamin Zander’s second recording of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony. The first was recorded live in 1994 with the Boston Philharmonic, the conductor’s own, ‘semi-professional’ orchestra. Reviewing that Carlton Classics release, David Gutman rightly complained about the orchestra’s ‘pallid sonorities’ and a general lack of interpretive individuality. Unfortunately, this Telarc recording is even less satisfactory. The Philharmonia is top notch, of course, but here their playing seems uninspired, and while the Boston Philharmonic may indeed be rough around the edges, they are clearly giving their all. It must be said, too, that the Philharmonia’s ensemble is untidy – surprisingly so for a studio recording, and given the orchestra’s intimate familiarity with the score.

The main problem is a persistent rhythmic slackness. Zander’s tempi can be slow, but they are hardly the slowest on record. Barbirolli, for example, sets an even more deliberate pace than Zander in the opening Allegro energico, ma non troppo, yet generates considerably more electricity. Compare Zander’s flaccid shaping of the march that briefly intrudes on the ‘Alma’ theme at fig 10 (beginning around 3'23") with Barbirolli’s weighty yet sharply pointed rhythms. Zander’s reading of this movement seems torpid even in comparison with his own previous recording, though the tempi are nearly identical.

Rubato is another serious problem. Zander all too frequently ignores Mahler’s careful instructions, as at the climax of the slow movement, where he allows the line to sag by refusing to push the tempo forward as indicated. There are some impressive moments in the finale, especially in the pages leading up to the first hammer blow. But such intensity is only intermittently maintained, and the howl of pain that follows that very loud but rather dull blow is disappointingly polite. (Two complete performances of the finale are presented on Disc 2 – the original with three hammer blows, preferred by this conductor, and the standard, revised version with two.)

So far, the most stimulating and satisfying instalment in Zander’s Mahler cycle has been the Ninth (4/99) – notably, the only one to have been recorded live. Even the bonus discussion disc for that set was out of the ordinary, offering a fairly deep discussion of interpretative issues rather than the kind of rudimentary thematic analysis that is provided here. Zander’s didactic zeal is admirable, but he can veer dangerously towards oversimplification. Does he actually believe, for example, that the deeply melancholy slow movement is ‘utterly idyllic’ and that ‘the clouds in its sky are only fair-weather clouds’?

Telarc’s sound quality is also disappointing, with the xylophone overly recessed in the scherzo and domineering trumpets throughout. The San Francisco Symphony’s recent recording is more effectively balanced, and their performance under Tilson Thomas is cogently structured yet eloquently intense, joining Bernstein and Tennstedt as a prime recommendation.