Customer Reviews

Mahler: Symphony No. 1

5 star:		(3)
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I've only got one other recording of this symphony (the one by Abbado and the Chicago Symphony), and I got this one because it was inexpensive, and included the Blumine movement. So I wasn't prepared for the treat ahead when I loaded it into my system. Wow!

Now, I've been an audiophile since the 50's (that makes me an old geek, or geezer) and now I've got home-built speakers that I used knowledge from my Ph.D. studies to build. The system has response down to 23 Hz, and it can handle lots of power...

Let me say first off that there's a bass drum that it VERY satisfying! And the brass! One peculiarity seems to be a changing acoustical vantage point - sometimes the brass are very soft and in the background, and sometimes they're right there in your ears. Another attribute is that the strings are just a little bit on the wiry side. You get used to these attributes...

The performance is incredible... certainly the equal of Abbado and the famed Chicago Symphony. Now that I'm excited, I'm going to have to get some other recordings. but I can't imagine anything better than this one.

In closing, let me confess that the joys I experienced while listening to this brought tears to my eyes, again and again!

As a trumpet player, I am extremely critical of many recordings I hear or purchase, and I am also very familiar with Mahler's 1st. I heard good things about this recording, and, after purchasing it, could not stop listening to it. The first and last movements are particularly well done. The fortissimo sections are full and rich the way Mahler meant them to be played, and the Finale still gives me a rush every time I hear it. The Blumine movement, too rarely recorded or performed, is equally magnificent. Kudos to the trumpet soloist!

Young English conductor James Judd leads the Florida Philharmonic in a spellbinding performance of Mahler's 1st Symphony which includes the rarely heard "Blumine" movement; Mahler deleted it from his final version of the score, which is the one most commonly used by orchestras today. Judd successfully leads his forces in an exquisitely played performance that isn't far removed from what you'd expect from the best orchestras in North America and Europe. At this price, it is absolutely a steal, and one worth owning for another fine interpretation of Mahler's 1st symphony.

If you are looking for a good Mahler First, this one is about as good as you can get. To summarize: Judd leads the Florida Philharmonic in a performance that is subtle and detailed for the first and third movements, appropriately salty in the second movement, and stunning in the fourth. Then of course is the beautiful "Blumine" movement.

1st mvt: A softer opening you couldn't ask for. And as the themes come through, listen to how perfect the playing is. All is in order.

2nd mvt: this is the movement of Mahler's First that convinced me that it was not so much a "Titan" symphony as a "Seafaring" symphony. The symphony is full of salty, piraty themes, with plenty of waves to rock the boat.

3rd mvt: this is often referred to as the "gypsy" movement, because the main theme has its origins in a gypsy song. What is really amazing about it though, is that it can hold your attention almost more than the fast movements. That can't be said of many symphonies.

4th mvt: Another great act in this amazing symphony. This time the seafarers are ambushed on an island, and an escape is made by the ship through a large dark tunnel.

I like James Judd and appreciated his tenure with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (which he balanced with the Florida, recorded here) so it's been a pleasure to listen this recording of Mahler's 1st symphony - not just because of Judd but also because of the extra Blumine movement.

First I should say that I wanted to hear it as originally performed so changed the order of tracks on itunes to make the Blumine the second movement Andante. Mahler discarded this after 3 performances and used some of the music in other pieces. There is controversy about why he did this- I prefer to think that the movement portrays first unrequited love (for singer Johanna Richter), and Mahler reflecting on this (calling it his hero's `blunder of youth') and heeding some criticism about it not being "symphonic" enough, discarded it (and the "Titan" name - although this has persisted more than the Blumine). Writers have disagreed about the movement's place in the symphony, but most agree that Mahler's final intentions should be respected. However, that doesn't stop the curious (like me) from putting it back together again.

I agree with critics that the Blumine sounds as if it belongs to a more conservative era of 19th century music, Mendelssohn and Brahms (whose theme of the finale of his 1st symphony contains a similar motif), but i think that it is more than just an historical curiousity as it, like the rest of the first symphony, provides portents of the music that was to emerge over another 8 (plus one unfinished) symphonies.

This is a recording with great dynamic range - you must be prepared to listen in a quiet environment and expect to hear absolute pianissimo as well as out-of-your skin fortissimo (bass drum especially). In these days of compressed music tracks this is a joy. The recording has a nice "live" feel to it, a spacious acoustic which shows off the brass and percussion especially well.

Performance-wise, Mahler liked to give conductors relative free rein and so it is good to hear individual interpretations. Judd's is not especially ground -breaking. The Florida strings shimmer beautifully and the ebbs and flows of love, excitement, anguish etc that make up all Mahler's symphonies are here without too much extreme. In this way the recording is a good balance to Bernstein. Passionate yet not extravert, like Judd himself.

The Blumine features a solo trumpet that stands well forward in this recording, almost as if it were a concerto rather than a solo from the brass section. I'm not sure if I like this, prefering it to be back in the brass section (although I can imagine that Mahler may well have wanted the player to stand, as he does with the horns in the final movement).Blumine is, I believe, popular with trumpeters and has in fact been re-arranged for Brass.The music supposedly was similar to a (now lost) earlier composition "Werners Trompeterlied".

All in all a very good recording and performance that doesn't shake the house down with emotions yet offers sensitive playing by a great conductor and very good American Orchestra.