MAHLER: Symphony No. 7 in e – Bamberg Sym./ Jonathan Nott – Tudor

MAHLER: Symphony No. 7 in e – Bamberg Sym./ Jonathan Nott – Tudor multichannel SACD 7176, 79:50 [Distr. by Naxos] ****1/2:
After all the years I have spent listening to and studying Mahler’s 7th Symphony, I am still amazed by the critical reaction to it. It is esoteric, problematic, uneven, mysterious, nightmarish, a gigantic slip of inspiration, you name it. And the shots taken at the last movement are simply outlandish.
Mahler disapproved of the moniker Song of the Night that was applied to this symphony, though it is easy to see why it stuck because of the two “nachtmusik” movements that form the inner core of the work and give it a lot of its color.  He also said that the work is “predominantly cheerful and humorous in content” yet rarely do we read anything about that in relation to this symphony! But I agree with Mahler—this piece, especially coming right after the devastating and apocalyptic Sixth is full of fresh ideas and breezy good feelings all through it, if it is listened to correctly.
Did I just call Mahler’s 7th breezy? Well, yes, and here’s why. I like to use the “Song of the Night” theme and imagine this whole symphony as a beautiful trip through the evening hours, perhaps a stroll through a lively city park. The opening movement sets the stage for the transition from humdrum activities of the work day to the evening hours; the first “nachtmusik” transforms us as we observe the peculiar entertainments around the park, leading to Mahler’s most Mendelssohnian scherzo in his entire corpus. The second “nachtmusik” is full of Schubertian grace, almost like the allegretto of that composer’s Third Symphony, punctuated by the sounds of the countryside. The finale is a simple summing up of the good feeling generated thus far as we end the night.
At least it works for me, and I think this is what Mahler intended. Bernstein knew this, and Tilson Thomas both on his RCA release and his SFSO recording felt it too. David Zinman also gives a fairly light reading as well on his budget RCA SACD release. I have been very pleased with most of the recordings I have heard by Jonathan Nott, especially his fine Schubert series also in Super Audio. Many of his other discs have been reviewed in these pages, including a rave of his Mahler 9th.
The 7th is the next to last to be recorded—only the gargantuan 8th remains—and this will be a very competitive cycle on SACD. The sound is lively, slightly distant, sort of like an empty concert hall sitting in the back row mezzanine. The orchestra is excellent, and while I don’t detect any special tonal characteristics they certainly know how to play their Mahler and render him most enthusiastically. The same applies to this recommendation.
—Steven Ritter