“My symphony will be something that the world has never heard before! The whole of nature finds a voice in it and tells of the kind of profound secrets that might be sensed in a dream! […] Even I myself sometimes have an eerie feeling in certain passages, and it seems to me as if I hadn't written them.” - Gustav Mahler on Symphony No.3

Symphony No.5 also poses a challenge to both audience and musicians in other respects. “The individual parts are so hard to play”, Mahler wrote to his good friend Natalie Bauer-Lechner, “that they really require soloists. Some very bold passages and rhythms just happened to slip into the music because of my precise knowledge of orchestra and instruments." This holds especially true for the solos, of course, with the first few measures for the trumpet being just as dreaded as the horn solo in the Scherzo movement, since they both have to be played without the safety net of an orchestral backing.

“... Mehta draws eloquent expression from the often turbulent motivic activity. In his circumspect interpretation (and with the help of the audiophile multi-channel technology), the complex polyphony of the Fifth is made audible in optimal fashion. … It would not be a bad idea at all if we were to hear more of Mahler, Mehta and Munich. And soon.” - Das Orchester (on Mahler 5)

"[...] convincingly interpreted. In the ranks of this top ensemble, there are also outstanding soloists for the dreaded wind solos [...]” - image hifi (on Mahler 5)

"As far as recording techniques are concerned, this is the best Mahler recording to date [...] The spatial and natural sound, [...] beats recent recordings of this work by Tilson Thomas and Zander hands down.“ - Stereo (on Mahler 3)

"... Mehta concentrates this gargantuan opus into one single eternal moment...“ - Fono Forum (on Mahler 3)

Mahler 3: Live recording at the Great Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, 2004
Mahler 5: Live recording from the Munich National Theatre, 2008