Last week I heard Manfred Honeck and the CSO in M5, and was most favorably impressed with this performance. My suspicion that it showed great care in rehearsal was confirmed in a post-concert Q&A with trumpeter John Hagstrom and acting principal horn Daniel Gingrich. They mentioned than not only was Honeck unusually thorough in rehearsals, but that in the Scherzo, he specified a genuine Viennese-style waltz rhythm, where the second beat occurs early, and that he distinguished between three types of Ländler.
Honeck shares with Haitink a capacity to scale the sound to the hall. Orchestra Hall can deliver an unpleasant blare if the orchestra plays too loudly, but Honeck used a relatively small orchestra and even the loudest passages remained musical and transparent. He also has a critical skill in a Mahler conductor, an ability to project counterpoint as individual voices.
I have not heard any of Honeck’s recordings, but based on this performance, I would certainly like to.
The concert began with a very fine performance of the Mozart 25th concerto with Till Fellner.
