Search - Gustav Mahler, Mariss Jansons, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra :: Mahler: Symphony No. 1 [Hybrid SACD]

Fine, straight forward performance caputured in excellent s

B. Guerrero | 06/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fast on the heels of Zinman's equally fine Mahler first symphony (RCA), we get another top notch SACD/CD hybrid version of it; this time from the Concertgebouw's in-house label. I don't own an SACD player, but I'm guessing that the SACD surround sound layer may sound better on this one, than on Zinman's RCA release. In plain, old two-channel stereo, this Jansons one sounds terrific! This is a bigger boned performance than the Zinman, with Zinman being just slightly better at smelling the flowers along the way (especially during the first movement's "wayfahring" develpment passage). Both are really good. Both conductors begin the scherzo just slow enough to allow a real lilt or "swing" feel to settle in. I like that Zinman plays down some of the bombast and bluster at the start out of the finale, but without also shortchanging the trombones or percussion. However, Jansons is slightly bigger sounding at the symphony's closing coda passage. My one and only complaint - a very minor one - is that I would have liked for Jansons to have pushed the tempo, just a tad more, at that slightly bigger sounding coda just mentioned. Also, unlike Zinman, Jansons does not include "Blumine" as an appendage.





Once again, the Concertgebouw prove that one a day to day basis, they're probably still the best overall Mahler orchestra on the planet. They play fabulously, and all four major sections of the orchestra receive equal weight: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Just to help lend some credibility to my argument, the Amsterdam audience goes nuts immediately afterwards (and they've heard more than their fair share of ALL the Mahler symphonies)."