Dudamel's Mahler Fifth: A Critic's Comparison with Tennstedt's 1980 Performance

Gustavo Dudamel's recent performances of Mahler's Fifth Symphony with the New York Philharmonic, where he is Music Director Designate, prompted a critic to reflect on a 1980 rehearsal led by Klaus Tennstedt. The critic, who attended all eight of Dudamel's programs last season for a New York Review of Books piece, found Dudamel's reading mellifluous and exuberant, in contrast to Tennstedt's fractured and eruptive interpretation. Tennstedt's rehearsal annotations from 46 years ago reveal his intense demands for dynamic extremes, free bowing, and rhythmic precision. The critic later discovered a YouTube recording of Tennstedt's June 18, 1980, performance with the Philharmonic, which he found colossal and transformative. The article also cites Karol Berger's 2025 book Mahler's Symphonic World, which argues that the symphony's finale is ironic and undermines transcendent traditions. Dudamel's arrival in New York has been heavily hyped, but his Mahler 5 makes the hype tolerable by emphasizing the work's positive energy. The critic attended with his daughter, who was enthralled, suggesting Dudamel's appeal to new audiences. A conductor friend noted that celebrity is the ultimate currency and expressed hope for classical music's future amid competition from screens and AI.