On track: A tale-spinner's eco-symphony

By WILLIAM DART

There's no shortage of recent recordings when it comes to Mahler's Third Symphony. Two (Boulez with the Vienna Philharmonic and Tilson Thomas with the San Francisco Symphony) carried off Grammys each this year, and Andrew Litton's new reading with the Dallas Symphony has the bonus of mezzo Nathalie Stutzmann.

Benjamin Zander's account, with the Philharmonia Orchestra, is up there with the best.

The Mahlerian world here is of man and his environment, making it a sort of spiritual eco-symphony - we are talking monumental time scale (90 minutes in Zander's version) and huge orchestral resources, including mezzo soloist and two choirs.

The 33 minutes of the first movement encompass everything from primeval whoops and thundering climaxes to gossamer-like solos. And you may think you're in heaven itself when the boys' choir enters in the fifth movement. They are 60m in the air and behind the conductor, as Mahler stipulated.

Zander restored the three hammerblows in Mahler's Sixth, and he is a stickler for detail. Tempo is a concern and the second movement, which pits fluctuating speeds against implacable pulse, is shiveringly effective.

If you've grown up with Christa Ludwig on the classic Bernstein recording, you may find Lilli Paasikivi a little pale, but her floated pianissimo lines are breathtaking.

A bonus disc features Zander's introduction, liberally illustrated. We can hear Bernstein hamming up the Minuet of the second movement, and Jascha Horenstein sanctioning the use of flugelhorn where Mahler asks for post horn. Zander offers correctives for both.

Zander favours a way of speaking that doesn't leave anyone out. With clear language and images that zing (my favourite is a reference to Mahler's Rite of Summer), Zander makes those unexpected connections you find yourself nodding in agreement with. And, dash it, the man's such a tale-spinner, you'll be listening to him even after you know every thematic nook and cranny.

* Mahler, Symphony No 3, played by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Benjamin Zander, Telarc (3CD-80599)