Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor: Tennstedt, Klaus

Composer: Mahler, Gustav

Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor

Venue: Royal Festival Hall, London

Date of Concert: 1988

Playing Time: 01:16:21

Catalogue Number: ICAD5041

UPC: 5060244550414

Klaus Tennstedt (1926-1998), a renowned Mahlerian, conducted this live performance at the Royal Festival Hall a year after stepping down as the LPO's Principal Conductor.

Issued here for the first time on video, this live performance was hailed as "legendary" by Michael Manus in the Gramophone and has been released on CD by EMI.

Tennstedt's 1978 studio recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony is described in one edition of the Penguin Guide as "an outstanding performance, thoughtful on the one hand, warm and expressive on the other."

This 1988 live performance is described in a later edition of the same guide as "more daring and more idiosyncratic than Tennstedt's earlier studio recording, but the tension is far keener. The experience hits one at full force. The emotional tension of the occasion is vividly captured."

This performance was the last time Tennstedt returned to Mahler 5 with the LPO and the highly personal and passionate interpretation justifies his reputation for outstanding live performances. According to Michael Manus, "The phenomenon that was Tennstedt in concert will never, can never, be recreated."