I've listened to this recording a couple times now. I am delighted by Movements 1-3, the Adagietto is long (not too much of a problem for me but perhaps for others a concern), but the last movement has me puzzled.
My problem starts at first note, the fp "verklingend" concert A. I've always heard this performed as an attacca bell-like tone in response to the pppp that concludes the Adagietto (my interpretation: it is a waking call, the new day is upon us). Here it is treated as a hint of an entrance by the horn, no forte in it at all. Just three measures later, the very same A with fp (though no fading away is indicated this time) is played as it should be. So immediately I wondered, "Why the change?"
Thereafter I heard wonderfully transparent, antiphonal playing, but I wondered where the movement was going. Some performances reach a peak too early, others just seem to hang at loud and louder, and performances I prefer build like an infectious revelry to the fff Pesante and then the ecstatic final four measures.
In this case, perhaps Honeck is taking a terraced approach, emphasizing the juxtapositions of fffs in one section followed by pp in another (e.g. between Rehearsal Nos. 15 and 17, around p. 210 and following in score). I'm not giving up, but I haven't cracked the code yet.
Those of you that have the Exton disc, what have you found?
P.S. To challenge by puzzlement and get some insight in how others handled the movement, I listed to Mehta, Saraste, Shipway, Bernstein, Levine, Levi, etc. Some wanted to "get into it" right away (e.g. Levine) whereas others started at a lower level (e.g. Levi).
Topic: Honeck / Pittsburg S.O. M5 available on Exton (Read 12128 times)