Customer Reviews

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1 / Songs of a Wayfarer - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Rafael Kubelik

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you want over-the-top hysteria (not necessarily a bad thing at times with Mahler), go with Bernstein. If you're looking for more conservative but still committed performances you can listen to again and again, Kubelik's your guy. He underplays the drama slightly, and while the result is still passionate, it's also solid, stable, and infinitely satisfying. Kubelik makes you more aware of Mahler's musical genius, where other conductors might focus more on the drama.

The orchestra might be a little thin in the strings, but they speak with Mahler's "voice" in a way that few other orchestras are able to capture -- there is a slightly rustic quality to their sound that captures the open air quality of Mahler's music. And they respond very well to Kubelik's sober but passionate direction. The brass and woodwinds, always important in Mahler, are superb.

Maybe not the most dramatic Mahler you've ever heard, but certainly among the most musical. It's the version of the 1st that gets put in my CD player most often. The price is right; remastering is expert.

You just can't go wrong with Kubelik and Mahler.

This is a totally captivating version of Mahler's 1st. The thing that struck me most was the "transparency" of this performance -- being able to hear each linear instrumental thread of the orchestral counterpoint, with all elements wonderfully balanced by Kubelik. Yet the power of the work as a whole is never lost; the raw emotions and youthful energy of this symphony were communicated in a way few other recordings achieve.

The relatively brisk tempi may surprise some fans (the total time is around 49 minutes - compare with Bernstein's 57 minutes) but Kubelik seems to have total control of the situation, so these worked very well and seemed entirely in keeping with the work's character.

Negative points? Well, the sound of the brass is a bit thin for my taste -- I don't know if this is due to the actual performance, original engineering, or digital remastering. However, this detail is minor compared to the overall positive impression of this reading. I recommend this recording to anyone -- seasoned Mahler fan or first-time listener alike.

Many consider the First Symphony as a lighter work of Mahler. To these ears, however, there are fewer great renditions of the First than there are of his heavier symphonies such as the Third and the Ninth. Kubelik reveals the inner beauty of this work in much greater details, and explores the spiritual aspects in more penetrating depth than others. Right from the beginning, the music is drugged with a distinctly well controlled misty atmosphere, only to be dissipated by the most beautifully played first theme. It is apparent that Kubelik works with great effort on every phrasing and tempo change, for nothing is done without a sense of purpose, or directly complements what comes before and after. The musical contrasts in the Third movement is perhaps the most challenging part of the symphony. Mahler wrote a Jewish wedding celebration to immediately follow the funeral march. Many play the haunting funeral march and the wedding jubilation as unrelated entities. As his later works exemplifies, Mahler is a master in using musical dichotomies. More often than not, it is the very moment when the mood of the music eeriely swings around that we get a glimpse into the polarities of Mahler's psyche. Few performances handle the transition in the 3rd movement more effectively than Kubelik. The profundity of Kubelik's account (and that of the music) becomes clear as the parody of life is highlighted not by the funeral march, but when the autere serenity is so rudely perturbed by the entrance of the wedding burlesque. We find ourselves bereft of laughter despite the festive celebration - a subtle musical sarcasm that is uniquely Mahler. This is one of the most philosophical and artistically well played renditions available, and comes coupled with a very fine Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with Fisher-Dieskau as soloist.

This performance of Mahler's 1ST is probably the best out there in terms of the quality of the interpreation and the playing. Unfortunately, the sound quality makes this a much less than perfect rendition.

Mahler here is played with more feeling than I have ever heard in this work prior - without overdoing it, like Bernstein was famous for. The first movement is zesty and bright, and the birdcalls are stunning. The third movement is sad, sounding like the death-mourning music that Mahler intended, rather than an orchestral transcription of "Freere Jacques", which is how Bernstein plays it (which in the Bernstein version does not explain the stormy introduction to the 4TH movement.) The tempi here is quicker than normal, but it works. (Beware: if you start to enjoy Kubelik's 1ST, then all other versions will seem to drag.)

The real problem here is the sound quality, which does not do this work justice. There is not much bass here which makes the brass and strings sound too thin -- In terms of engineering, this recording sounds more like Disney's (original) Fantasia in its 1940 sound, rather than say, Solti's Ring, recorded about the same time as Kubelik's Mahler. If you have another (digital) recording of Mahler's 1ST, and you are playing this on an audiophile system, then the difference in sound quality is truly maddening. (and an equalizer can only do so much...)

Nevertheless, Kubelik is not around today to provide us a new version in sparkling digital sound, and I have yet to hear a digital version played this well. (though Bernstein on DG is above average.)

Kubelik is constantly underated as a Mahlerian conductor and yet his cycle as a whole is delightful. His speeds are constantly quick and this has often been the sole reason for his dismissal, but Klemperer is just as extreme and does not seem to have suffered in the same way. If Klemperer is slow and thoughtful, then Kubelik is light and lyrical and his recording of the first is the pick of his cycle (although listen to eight as well if you can). He has exactly the right rhythm and feeling of the 'dance' element and engages immediately with the opening which is like an amazing daybreak. However, there is also plenty of power in the finale and it opens with a fine storm, second only to Tennstedt for dramatic punch. A fine recording and listen to other Kubelik Mahler recordings if you can!

From the opening quiet, subdued Sounds of Nature on to the quickened tempo of the second of Mahler's Wayfarer Songs, so familiar and refreshing, then rising to significant climax. This is followed by the Bruckner influenced scherzo, which I very much like.

The finale bursts forth powerfully as if black, swirling storm clouds burst onto a sunny day. Here, he brings us back to the beginning in a victorious sound, which then ends in a horn dominated ending.

This time honored recording by Kubelik is passionate and up-tempo. What has been termed as "breakthrough" in this First Symphony certainly rings forth from the conductor's interpretation and this strong rendering from the Bavarian Symphony Radio Orchestra.

Here in the studios of DG in the late sixties percolated a performance of Mahler's Titan symphony that can only be described as inspired!!!\

Kubelik understand the pacing of this music WHERE others fear to tread...go ahead..try to find a performance on record of Karajan or Szell of this piece....

bet you can't...Why is this?

Simply put the above conductors never understood this early work of Mahler...it is structurally very tricky to bring off and to boot the Finale is technically hard to interpret with the Baton!!! In fact, another element of this work that Kubelik understands is that the work is somewhat rough..the winds here are allowed to predominate and also play out!!!

Many conductors like Szell and Karajan were too obscessed with Blend!!! IN Mahler this is death....the electricity of this recording is unreal..in fact I believe the Mahler cycle of Kubelik's is one the best...

he is consistently more interesting and allows the dynamics to emerge without becoming vulgar....just remember how bad Mehta was and you will know what I mean.

Kubelik in this classic (though not especially good-sounding) rendition provides a Mahler First which is just that: a young man's first essay in the symphonic form. That this particular young man was a composer of genius is obvious--but Kubelik never reminds us that the "Resurrection" Symphony followed a few years later. In other words, Kubelik does not inflate this score to the proportions of Mahler's later, larger-scale works, as many conductors do (including some of the obvious "big names"). He presents the First on its own terms, giving us heaps of poetry and atmosphere, and stinting on slickness or showiness which aren't appropriate to the music anyway. (He also stints on exposition repeats, skipping the one in the second movement.)

The playing of the Bavarian Radio Symphony, who sound very much like a Czech orchestra here (Kubelik was, of course, a Czech, and you can argue that Mahler's background was as much Moravian as it was Austrian), is not blemish-free. This is especially evident through headphones. DG's sonics, while clear, can be thin and abrasive; as a result, some climaxes don't have the oomph that they really need (and for this, I blame the recording more than the conducting). If you can listen past these shortcomings, which in my opinion are not deal-breakers, you'll hear a Mahler First which is pretty close to ideal.

As for the coupling, Fish-Disk's circa-1970 "Songs of a Wayfarer" accompanied by Kubelik & Co., I would say it's a valuable adjunct to the symphony. However, either of the great baritone's other commercially available recordings (the 1950s set with Furtwangler, and a live performance in the New York Philharmonic "Mahler broadcasts" boxed set) find him on better behavior, less inclined to over-emote.

With Horenstein's 1969 London Symphony recording very difficult to find, Kubelik makes an easy 1st choice. Mahler's First is easily the most accessible of his symphonies and offers unadulterated Romanticism from first note to last. Any great performance must unfold as natural and unforced as Nature itself. There were other composers of the 19th century who drew inspiration from nature, notably Schubert, and this work draws many parallels with Beethoven's Pastorale Symphony, but Mahler reached the heights of expression in his exploration of spirituality/mysticism through Nature - a lifelong quest that can only be matched in Ralph Waldo Emerson's writings earlier in the century. Indeed, Kubelik's view refuses to enforce any disingenuous gestures of profundity - so common in modern Mahler interpretations - and resists the notion that the composer was death-obsessed so early in his career, resulting in a beautiful and fully realized third movement where death is never so overwhelming as to obliterate the optimism of new life, just as Spring always triumphs Winter. From the opening measures that arise like a dewy dawn to the joyful Strauss-waltz Viennese lilt and Jewish dance which carries you through the inner movements to the maelstrom that opens the fourth movement then to its final triumphal blasts of brass that close the work, Kubelik allows Mahler's voice to sing out - it blooms and it glows with youthful optimism. A special performance, marred only by the dry acoustic of early DG recordings. As a bonus, Fischer-Dieskau provides a somewhat histrionic recital of Songs Of A Wayfarer, Mahler's earliest song-cycle masterpiece, but it is a captivating performance nonetheless - especially due to Kubelik and his Bavarians' superb accompaniment - and great to have included from an academic perspective since Mahler "stole" much from it for his First Symphony. ****1/2

Other references: Top recommendation from Gramophone; High recommendation from Rough Guide, Penguin Guide, Classical Music: Third Ear; Top recommendation from Rough Guide for complete symphonies of Mahler.

At present there are three Kubelik recordings of Mahler's first symphony in the market. We have this very fine 1967 DG recording, one of the very best interpretations from Kubelik's BRSO cycle. And recently Audite released an exceptionally fine live performance from the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz, made in 1979, where Kubelik conducts BRSO in concert. Back in the catalogue is also an earlier mono account with Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded 1954 (Label Decca: it is now available at www.amazon.de in Germany).

The early Vienna recording has a sense of discovery about it, like Bruno Walter's NYPO mono recording of the same work. The two later recordings (DG and Audite), by contrast, display more developed and consistent interpretations, demonstrating Kubelik's superb grasp of the "Bohemian" character of the symphony. The interpretations are quite similar. The first movement is a demonstration in clarity and freshness, miles away from the overweight overload that for example Bernstein adds to the music. The second movement is a true ländler, taken in one breath. In the third movement, note for instance how Kubelik emphasizes the kletzmer-like trumpet playing, thus presenting a sexy, vulgar tone that is truly idiomatic with Mahler's music. The finale gets a clear and balanced account, consistent with Kubelik's understanding of the work as a whole.

Comparing the DG disc with the Audite, the latter has richer and more natural stereo sound. The interpretation is also somewhat broader. Considering the Decca mono, it is a slightly younger man's view of a young man's first symphony, less well recorded and played.

Mahlerites should have all three. But budget-minded collectors can buy the DG account with confidence. Hifi enthusiasts are advised to consider the live Audite record.