Mahler's 5th - the secret destroyer in "Decision to Leave" and "Tár"

by Lynn Lee
Mahler’s Fifth Symphony is enjoying a bit of a renaissance these days, thanks to its prominent placement in not just one but two of the most fascinating films of the year, Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave and Todd Field’s Tár. Not that it’s ever really been out of the public eye. It’s been a staple of classical orchestras for decades, and its fourth movement – the dreamily romantic Adagietto, which cinephiles may recognize from Visconti’s Death in Venice – long ago reached a degree of mainstream popularity rarely accorded classical works.
Just because it’s a war horse, though, doesn’t mean it can’t be used in constantly different and surprising ways. The Fifth – like all of Mahler’s symphonies, but perhaps even more so – contains multitudes...




