The sparkiest Mahler of recent years has not come from the usual suspects. Alexandre Bloch’s Orchestre National de Lille immortalised their deft, propulsive Seventh Symphony on the far side of the pandemic (Alpha, 11/20). Now from Francophone Quebec comes a generally upbeat Fifth from Rafael Payare and the Montreal SO. The Venezuelan hornist turned conductor is scarcely unique in touring and now recording one of his party pieces. But Pentatone, the Netherlands-based label with its own old-school, Central European Mahler cycle in train, is taking a long-term punt on the success of this newly established partnership. In today’s market conditions such commitments are not undertaken solely on the basis of big hair.

Sonic factors really matter here. In Charles Dutoit’s time the Montreal orchestra was synonymous with diaphanous Gallic fare and Decca sound engineering brought together in the acoustic of Saint Eustache. Today’s players make a darker, more immediate impact in the Maison Symphonique opened in the course of Kent Nagano’s tenure. Articulation in all departments is firm and true. The antiphonal placement of first and second violins, audibly adding value to parts of the score, entails no loss of heft in unison passages. Returning to Leonard Bernstein (DG, 8/88) for the nth degree of emotive force or to Claudio Abbado (EuroArts, 9/05) for the most elegant elucidation of Mahler’s contrapuntal fabric, one notices that neither enjoys comparably modern recorded sound. True, under Payare, the tam-tam goes AWOL in the final climax of the second movement. The subdued pizzicato pay-off at the end of the first is presumably evidence of scholarly intervention. Simon Rattle, who also divides his violins, plays down that effect (EMI/Warner, 12/02); Bernstein is explosive, Abbado somewhere in between. Then again the entire funeral march is relatively low-key, its opening fanfare crisp, almost businesslike. There will be give and take but not much rubato, maybe not enough for some.

Intensity, inflection and colour build as the performance proceeds. In a central Scherzo with real pizzazz, Payare and/or his technical team part company with Rattle in choosing not to spotlight the obbligato horn. The Adagietto, fashionably flowing, manages to accommodate plenty of portamento and affectionate phrasing. Gone is the portentousness associated with the movement’s deployment for Robert Kennedy’s funeral, Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice and Todd Field’s Tár. The finale again avoids heaviness, generating real excitement even if the return of the brass chorale from the second movement is not intended to overwhelm the listener.

Helpful annotations include some observations from the conductor. Rather than dwelling on his time with the Simón Bolívar Orchestra (Payare will have played the symphony a good deal under the comparably dynamic direction of Gustavo Dudamel), he advances his own take on ‘music brimming with exuberant energy, hope and a deep love of life’. This is a Fifth that sparkles and – with all due respect to Cate Blanchett’s Lydia Tár – there will be many more mountains to climb. Recommended.