BaL 19.12.20 - Mahler Symphony no. 1

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 Building a Library
Gillian Moore chooses her favourite recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.

Of all his symphonies, it was the First which gave Mahler the most trouble. Was it a two-part symphonic poem, did it have a programme, or was it just a symphony...? Should it have four or five movements? By the time Mahler published it as Symphony No. 1 in 1899, he’d been working on it for more than ten years, constantly revising it since its 1888 premiere in front of an indifferent Budapest audience. For a long time the symphony’s lukewarm reception continued to perplex and disappoint Mahler. But at under an hour, full of good tunes and orchestral drama, it’s one of the shortest and most often performed and recorded of all his symphonies.


Available recordings:-

Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Claudio Abbado (DVD/Blu-ray)
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Maurice Abravanel
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy *
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli
Hallé Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli
New York Philharmonic, Sir John Barbiroll
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Boulez
Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Leonard Bernstein
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein
American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein *
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult *
San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, Donato Cabrera
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Riccardo Chailly (DVD/Blu-ray)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly
Seoul Philharmonic, Myung-Whun Chung *
Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnányi *
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Christoph Eschenbach
London Symphony Orchestra, Harold Farberman
RTV Moscow Large Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Fedoseyev *
Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio, Vladimir Fedoseyev
Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, Gabriel Feltz
Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Ádám Fischer
Festspielorchester des Gustav Mahler Fest Kassel, Ádám Fischer (SACD)
Budapest Festival Orchestra, Iván Fischer (SACD)
Hungarian State Orchestra, Iván Fischer *
Utah Symphony Orchestra, Thierry Fischer (SACD)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Daniele Gatti (SACD)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Daniele Gatti (DVD/Blu-ray)
London Symphony Orchestra, Valéry Gergiev (SACD)
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Michael Gielen
New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert *
Berliner Philharmoniker, Carlo Maria Giulini
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Hartmut Haenchen
Berliner Philharmoniker, Bernard Haitink
Berliner Philharmoniker, Bernard Haitink (DVD)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Haitink *
Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Bernard Haitink
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Michael Halasz
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Daniel Harding (DVD)
Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra, Zsolt Hamar *
NDR Sinfonieorchester, Thomas Hengelbrock *
London Symphony Orchestra, Jascha Horenstein
Pro Musica Orchester Wien, Jasche Horenstein
Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Jascha Horenstein
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Eliahu Inbal *
Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Eliahu Inbal *
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi (DVD)
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi (DVD/Blu-ray)
Staatsorchester Braunschweig, Alexander Joel (SACD)
Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Arpád Jóo *
Florida Philharmonic Orchestra, James Judd
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski
Dresdner Philharmonic, Herbert Kegel *
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Otto Klemperer *
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul Kletzki
Symphony Orchestra of Moscow State Philharmonic, Kirill Kondrashin *
Hungarian National Philharmonic, Zoltan Kocsis *
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Kirill Kondrashin
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Zdenek Kosler
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Rafael Kubelik
Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della Rai, Rafael Kubelik
Wiener Philharmoniker, Rafael Kubelik *
Erich Leinsdorf, Boston Symphony Orchestra
Erich Leinsdorf, Boston Symphony Orchestra (DVD)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Yoel Levi
Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra, Gary Lewis *
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (SACD)
Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Fabio Luisi
L’orchestre Nationale de France, Lorin Maazel
New York Philharmonic, Lorin Maazel *
Philharmonia Orchestra, Lorin Maazel
Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Lorin Maazel
Wiener Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel *
Prague Symphony Orchestra, Zdenek Macal *
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Charles Mackerras *
Uppsala Kammarorkester, Paul Mägi
Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI di Torino, Igor Markevitch
Orchestra of La Fenice, Venezia, Diego Matheuz (DVD)
Australian World Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
New York Philharmonic, Zubin Mehta
New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Dimitri Mitropoulos
Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti *
Ljubljana Symphony Orchestra, Anton Nanut
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Neumann
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Sir Roger Norrington
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Jonathan Nott (SACD)
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo *
Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy *
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle
National Children’s Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, Simon Rattle (DVD/Blu-ray)
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, Hans Rosbaud
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Sinfonieorchestre Baden-Baden und Freiburg, François-Xavier Roth
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hermann Scherchen
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Heinrich Schiff
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz *
Philharmonia Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Cologne Radio Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Georg Solti
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Markus Stenz
Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Emil Tabakov *
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt
San Francisco SymphonyOrchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas (SACD)
San Francisco SymphonyOrchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas (DVD/Blu--ray)
Canada National Youth Orchestra, Georg Tintner *
Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä (SACD)
Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jan Willem de Vriend *
Minnesota Orchestra, Edo de Waart *
Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Edo de Waart
Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Bruno Walter
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Philharmonia Orchestra, Benjamin Zander
Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, David Zinman *

(* = download only)

[Pulcinella]

My first recording of this was a Classics for Pleasure LP release: Vienna Phil under Kletzki (nla; not even sure it ever made it to CD):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symphony-Vienna-Kletzki-vinyl/dp/B07BTHT4DB

Sterling work, as usual, providing us with this list of available recordings, Alpie!

[Bryn]

Pedant hat on. Will they be dealing with just Mahler's Symphony No. 1 or are they also to cover Titan, Symphonic Poem in Two Parts from which Mahler took and reorchestrated four movements? If the former, the list is over-filled.

[Pulcinella]

Pedant hat on. Will they be dealing with just Mahler's Symphony No. 1 or are they also to cover Titan, Symphonic Poem in Two Parts from which Mahler took and reorchestrated four movements? If the former, the list is over-filled.

And what about Blumine, for that matter!
Or (ignoramus hat on), was that part of Titan?

[Bryn]

And what about Blumine, for that matter!

Well, if it's included on a CD as a supplement, fine. However, if, as with Norrington, it's inserted into the 1st Symphony, with that work's augmented orchestration, its instrumentation surely renders it out of place. It's good, though, to have both the Symphony and the Symphonic Poem 'Titan' as conducted by Roth available for consideration.

[visualnickmos]

My first recording of this was a Classics for Pleasure LP release: Vienna Phil under Kletzki (nla; not even sure it ever made it to CD):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symphony-Vienna-Kletzki-vinyl/dp/B07BTHT4DB

Sterling work, as usual, providing us with this list of available recordings, Alpie!

It did ! On the Royal Classics label. Still on the usual river people at a very good price!

[Petrushka]

The first Mahler disc I ever bought, in February 1973, was Bernard Haitink's 1972 recording of this symphony made with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and with what that started this Mahler 1 holds a very special place in my musical life. I was 18 at the time, a few months off 19, and I played the disc until it almost wore out. Needless to say, it's my 'go-to' recording in its CD incarnation.

The 1962 Concertgebouw/Haitink recording was issued as part of the complete set on CD last year with that 1972 account on the Blu-ray only. Still waiting for Covid to end in order to sort out the blu-ray player situation.

Other favourites are Chicago SO/Solti, BPO/Abbado and BRSO/Kubelik all of whom I saw perform the Mahler 1.

[Barbirollians]

It did ! On the Royal Classics label. Still on the usual river people at a very good price!

Cracking record just a shame about the cut.

Bruno Walter should obviously sneak home from Kubelik. Abbado and Barbirolli but I doubt he will .

[Bryn]

Revised 14 years or so ago: http://www.musicweb-international.co...er/Mahler1.htm

[Keraulophone]

My first experience of Mahler was a housemaster at boarding school playing me Solti’s recording of this symphony with the LSO. The eerie opening made an even greater impact on me than the noisy finale. A music prize allowed me to choose the LSO/Levine LP that had just been released by RCA (at half price for a limited period: £1.49 IIRC). He continued to prefer Solti, but I backed my recent acquisition. Levine’s Mahler 4 with the Chicago Symphony wasn’t so impressive, but the Brahms 1 they recorded during a spare session was hailed at the time as being reminiscent of Toscanini. These three recordings from 1974/75 are available as a 2-SACD reissue from Dutton, so someone else must think they are worth rehearing.

[makropulos]

Gosh –another work where it's hard to know where to start, let alone what to leave out! My own favourites include Walter (NYP and Columbia versions), Kubelík (DG and Audite versions), Solti/LSO, Giulini/Chicago, Haitink (first recording), Bernstein (DG/Concertgebouw) and –of more recent ones –Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh SO on Exton. Having said that, there are plenty of others I enjoy, including Boult, Mackerras and Ancerl.

Incidentally, EA's terrific list is missing both Ancerl (Czech PO, Supraphon) and Honeck (Pittsburgh, Exton). Also, there are two Tennstedt/LPO recordings, one on EMI and one (live) on the LPO's own label.

At a guess, Ivan Fischer will do very well in this BAL (I'm the only person I know who doesn't rave about his Mahler).

[richardfinegold]

The first Mahler disc I ever bought, in February 1973, was Bernard Haitink's 1972 recording of this symphony made with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and with what that started this Mahler 1 holds a very special place in my musical life. I was 18 at the time, a few months off 19, and I played the disc until it almost wore out. Needless to say, it's my 'go-to' recording in its CD incarnation.

The 1962 Concertgebouw/Haitink recording was issued as part of the complete set on CD last year with that 1972 account on the Blu-ray only. Still waiting for Covid to end in order to sort out the blu-ray player situation.

Other favourites are Chicago SO/Solti, BPO/Abbado and BRSO/Kubelik all of whom I saw perform the Mahler 1.

I have the BluRay, although I was listening to the CD version which I had burned to my NAS before discarding just 3 days ago. The CD sounds mighty impressive. One of my favorite concerts was hearing B.H. Conduct this in Chicago

[Keraulophone]

there are two Tennstedt/LPO recordings, one on EMI and one (live) on the LPO's own label.

Tennstedt also recorded Mahler 1 with the Chicago Symphony, released on CD by EMI in 2010. Could this be the same performance which exists on a DVD coupled with Mahler 8 (LPO at RFH)?

[Leinster Lass]

I have Kubelik and the Bavarians, which also includes Fischer-Dieskau's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and will be hard to beat, I'd imagine, and Rattle/CBSO. I don't envy the reviewer, although there will presumably be a (very?) short list.

[BBMmk2]

I have a few!
Berliner Philharmoniker/Abbado
LPO/Jurowski (including Blumine)
NDR Sinfonieorchester/Henglebrock
LSO/Solti(Decca two-fer c/w No.2)
Berliner Philharmoniker/Haitink(DVD with No.2)
Lucerne Festival Orchestra/Abbado (DVD with Prokofiev PC 3).