hdTracks | iTunes | Native DSD | SoundCloud  | Yarlung Records Mahler Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor.  Gerard Schwarz, cond., The Colburn Orchestra.  YARLUNG 41014 (64:00). By any standard, this is a superlative Mahler Fifth; given that it’s a live performance by a student orchestra, it’s frankly jaw-dropping. Though less well known than Eastman, Juilliard, Curtis or the New England Conservatory, the Colburn School in downtown Los Angeles is one of America’s top-flight musical institutions– as may be gathered from the fact that it currently fields an orchestra every bit the equal of any of its venerable eastern rivals.  But then again, with the American Youth Symphony, the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, the USC Thornton Symphony and the UCLA Philharmonia – several of which are more than capable of mopping the floor with the highly touted Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra – Los Angeles has a fair claim to being Continue Reading →