Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra are one of the most reliable pairings out there when it comes to performances that produce in-your-face intensity as well as nuance and polish. Their take on Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 is no exception. Fischer leads an expressive rendition, with depth and unity of sound, from passages that whirl like a fierce wind to those that sing tenderly. The work opens on a strong note with a confident, deliberate fanfare and huge, glorious crashes of sound before the atmosphere darkens, with elegiac strings and ripping brass. The biting entrance to the second movement builds to a high point of fervent, ringing, full orchestral clamor. At the same time, the performance is disciplined, and the BFO musicians play with consummate skill and ferocity. Fischer maintains a clear sense of structure throughout as character shifts dramatically. Worth waiting for in any decent rendering of the symphony, the "Adagettio" receives a beautifully sustained, savored performance, with warm tones and sensitive, pliant phrasing.