Composer: Gustav Mahler
Orchestra: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BR Klassik
Catalogue: 900143
Release: 2016
Size: 212 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Symphony No. 1 in D major ‘Titan’ (Live)
01. I. Langsam, schleppend
02. II. Kräftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell
03. III. Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen
04. IV. Stürmisch bewegt
The music of Gustav Mahler, the Late Romantic composer on the threshold of modernity, has been a firm part of the repertoire of the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks ever since the early 1960s, when the orchestra’s Mahler tradition was established by its former chief conductor Rafael Kubelik. BR-KLASSIK has already released Mahler’s First (as part of an audiobook CD) and Seventh Symphonies with Mariss Jansons, as well as the Ninth with Bernard Haitink. The young Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin is making his debut here on the BR-KLASSIK label with Mahler’s First Symphony. He is one of the most important representatives of a younger generation of conductors and, since his European debut in 2004, has already conducted such renowned orchestras as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic. Yannick Nézet-Séguin is currently chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s performances of the symphonies of Gustav Mahler have yielded fascinating results, though his progress in recording them has been sporadic, so this 2016 release of the Symphony No. 1 in D major with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is a welcome addition to his discography. In this live performance of the published score, Nézet-Séguin makes no apologies for not including the rejected Blumine movement or, for that matter, not attempting to revert the symphony to its earlier state as the symphonic poem Der Titan, as several conductors have. To the contrary, Nézet-Séguin lets the four-movement version stand on its own without recourse to historical revisionism, and the trajectory of the work is almost ideally realized without the extraneous Blumine. Indeed, the energy generated in the first movement spills over into the Scherzo, and the slow third movement comes as a welcome relief before the volatile Finale. Beyond preserving the feeling of momentum and balanced proportions, Nézet-Séguin also draws out the wonderful colors in Mahler’s masterful orchestration that make this symphony a delight, and every detail comes across vividly in the recording. Highly recommended.