# You best and worst Mahler Symphony No.1 recording



## KevinW (Nov 21, 2021)

Hello TC community,

As a starter of Mahler's music, I am now listening to his first Symphony and I really like it. Someone recommended me the recording by Abbado and Lucerne Festival Orchestra and that version is splendid. I would also love to listen to your recommdnations on your best and, especially, *worst* recording of this composition. As a relatively young classical audience, I am not very good at distinguishing from good and bad recordings. So, please tell me which one is your worst recording and *why*.

KevinW


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## John Zito (Sep 11, 2021)

The classic recommendation for "best" is probably Rafael Kubelík's DG recording:









I imprinted on Valery Gergiev's recording on LSO Live, which I still really like for the last movement, but I doubt anyone ranks it among the greats:






Christoph von Dohnányi's Mahler recordings with the Cleveland Orchestra on Decca do not have an especially good reputation.


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## KevinJS (Sep 24, 2021)

I quite like this one:









but I play this one more:


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Great Mahler Sym #1s:
there are lots of really good ones - my current faves:

Giulini/CSO
Tennstedt/CSO
Walter/ColSO

Crappy ones?? OTTOMH, I can only think of 1 - 

Leinsdorf/BSO - ugh, awful. stodgy, muddy recording of stodgy, muddy conducting of stodgy, muddy playing.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Some time ago DavidA did a series of threads about each of the Mahler symphonies, here is a link to the 1st...

Mahler symphonies - No 1


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Best: Maazel VPO on Sony. Splendid playing, conducting, sound. Too bad it's so often overlooked.
Worst: Bernstein NYPO on Sony. Good playing, wayward and willful and overdriven conducting. Did better on the DG remake. 

Best Live: Abbado VPO at Carnegie Hall in 1991. Utterly thrilling - I get goosebumps thinking about it.
Worst Live: Dudamel LAPO at Disney Hall. Loud, fast, without poetry. And some really stupid phrasing. Lots of hair shaking though.


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## Holden4th (Jul 14, 2017)

I don't have a worst but I'm sure they are out there.

My recommendations:

The bucolic approach: Bruno Walter/ColSO
The deep and mysterious approach: Solti LSO
The ardent/heart on your sleeve approach: Bernstein/Concertegebouw. He has another recording with the NYPO but this is better.

All three are totally different from each other. This thread has prompted me to go my digital library and have a listen.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

I think that some well-known recordings of this symphony I own are almost equally good. I don't yet have a recording that goes too far beyond or below my expectation. Anyway, my current favorite is Abbado with BPO on DG arround 1990. Bertini on EMI, Chailly on Decca and Haitink with BPO on Philips are all excellent ones.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

The worst would be any performance which includes the _Blumine_ movement which Mahler dropped very early on.


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

I like Gielen and Boulez, but the first recommended Kubelik is a fine choice and the first one I heard. Abbado and Tennstedt (already mentioned) are genrally fine choices in any Mahler symphony.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Becca said:


> The worst would be any performance which includes the _Blumine_ movement which Mahler dropped very early on.


Yep Becca, any recording I have that includes Blumine, I always miss it out. Such a boring, unnecessary movement and Mahler dumped it for good reason. There are lots of recommendations for Mahler 1s in the threads below from the TC archives. I'll stick with most of my recommendations from there for now.

Mahler symphonies - No 1
choice of mahler symphony no.1


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

When I compared about 10 recordings of mine, my favorites were Kubelik/DG and Walter/ColSo. The mono Walter/NYPO from a few years earlier is also very good but the sound on the other one is considerably better and trumps IMO whatever slight advantages the NYPO might have. Kubelik's ca. 1970 recording does not have the greatest sound either but it's good enough for me.
Bernstein/Concertgebouw was my first CD of the symphony but I was a bit disappointed when re-listening. It is beautifully played but the "klezmer" section of the 3rd movement is not grotesque enough and the finale is also a bit tame.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

Becca said:


> The worst would be any performance which includes the _Blumine_ movement which Mahler dropped very early on.





Merl said:


> Yep Becca, any recording I have that includes Blumine, I always miss it out. Such a boring, unnecessary movement and Mahler dumped it for good reason. There are lots of recommendations for Mahler 1s in the threads below from the TC archives. I'll stick with most of my recommendations from there for now.
> 
> Mahler symphonies - No 1
> choice of mahler symphony no.1


Blumine itself is nice serenade music, but as part of the 1st symphony, it sounds terribly out-of-place and destroys the flow of the symphony.

Ozawa's 1977 Mahler #1 on DG (not to be mistaken with the 1987 recording on Philips) included Blumine after the 1st movement, its "rightful" place, but it sucks as the 2nd movement. Program it out, and the whole performance becomes a very good one.

The "trick" to make it more agreeable :lol: is to include Blumine at the end of the disc, like Hannu Lintu did in his 2014 Ondine recording. The difference exists only in the attitude, as if Lintu is making a statement that, Blumine does not really belong in the symphony, but I would still like to present it to you. The result is the same: I play the symphony but not Blumine.

Or, like what François-Xavier Roth did in his 2018 recording on Harmonia Mundi - play the Hamburg/Weimar version of this symphony, ah no, symphonic poem. Problem solved. Blumine has to be included. Naughty, Mr. Roth.


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## allaroundmusicenthusiast (Jun 3, 2020)

Kubelik for me is still the one to beat in the 1st


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

There's an early Decca Kubelik/VPO of some interest too. 

Personally, I don't have any real favourites of this work, however.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I wasn't aware of any recordings of the first which placed _Blumine_ within the symphony itself.

In answer to the original question, I have eight recordings of the work *** and I wouldn't call any of them particularly substandard.

*** Bernstein (NYPO)/Solti (London SO)/Walter (stereo recording with Columbia SO)/Halász (Polish National RSO)/Kubelik (Bavarian RSO - studio version on DG)/Rattle (Birmingham SO)/Horenstein (London SO)/Haitink (Berlin PO)


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I notice many recommendations of the Kubelik/DG recording but the Kubelik/Audite is even better due in no small part to being a live performance.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Favorites in order:


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

My favorites are Bernstein with the Vienna Philharmonic and Ozawa with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

My least favorite would be Tennstedt with the LPO. It is still a good performance, but there are coughs between the movements that irritate me.


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## Phredd (Jul 7, 2020)

I cut my teeth on the Leinsdorf/BSO recording, which is one of the first pieces of classical music I ever came to love (I think I was five, and for years it was the only version I heard). So even though I still cringe at the trumpet crack in the finale, I know every note and nuance of that version by heart and so it is mentally a "reference" interpretation for me.

With that as a backdrop, I never grew to love the Kubelik version that seems to top everyone else's list. It's exciting enough, but just doesn't quite work for me.

On the other hand, the Solti/CSO version seems tired and unenthusiastic. I can't recommend that one at all. And there are still so many to try. This must be one of the most-recorded symphonies of all time.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Becca said:


> I notice many recommendations of the Kubelik/DG recording but the Kubelik/Audite is even better due in no small part to being a live performance.


I've heard it said the Audite cycle has the edge over the DG when considered as a whole - would you agree with that?

EDIT: Becca - I misread your post by assuming you are familiar with both cycles. Please ignore my question if it's not relevant.

However, I can make it an open question...


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

elgars ghost said:


> I've heard it said the Audite cycle has the edge over the DG when considered as a whole - would you agree with that?


I haven't heard enough of the other symphonies to comment but, in general, live performances usually have the edge over studio, particularly for Mahler.


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## KevinJS (Sep 24, 2021)

elgars ghost said:


> I wasn't aware of any recordings of the first which placed _Blumine_ within the symphony itself.
> 
> In answer to the original question, I have eight recordings of the work *** and I wouldn't call any of them particularly substandard.
> 
> *** Bernstein (NYPO)/Solti (London SO)/Walter (stereo recording with Columbia SO)/Halász (Polish National RSO)/Kubelik (Bavarian RSO - studio version on DG)/Rattle (Birmingham SO)/Horenstein (London SO)/Haitink (Berlin PO)


That one I posted (Hans Graf/Calgary Philharmonic) features Blumine as the 2nd Movement. The back story behind the recording is that a well-heeled couple wore out their LP copy of the 5-movement 1st and effectively rented the orchestra to record a new one for them. The CD notes mention a sizeable donation so, presumably, the orchestra were able to swallow the 7 minutes or so that Blumine took up.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Zinman on RCA plays Blumine, but as an appendage.
Ole Rudd on Simax plays the original Titan version which must include Blumine. (Wonderful recording BTW)
Ormandy on RCA inserts Blumine (foolishly) in the symphony as we know it. Mismatched badly. Otherwise a fine performance.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Phredd said:


> With that as a backdrop, I never grew to love the Kubelik version that seems to top everyone else's list.


Same here, never got into it.



> On the other hand, the Solti/CSO version seems tired and unenthusiastic.


I like that one...Solti is always good with Mahler, ime... Haitink recorded one as well, which is more recent, and very good...


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## Phredd (Jul 7, 2020)

Heck148 said:


> I like that one...Solti is always good with Mahler, ime... Haitink recorded one as well, which is more recent, and very good...


The Haitink one I like, as well. I haven't heard Chailly's version of the 1st. I'm interested, though. He does a good version of the 5th.


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## RobertJTh (Sep 19, 2021)

A performance of Mahler 1 in the final revised (standard) version with the Blumine movement reinstalled is hybrid, a Frankenstein monster that shouldn't exist.
The same goes for Das Klagende Lied in the final revised version, but with the discarded first movement reinstated...

As for Mahler 1, last week I listened to - and enjoyed - this dark horse:









Not world-class but a very sympathetic and well-recorded performance that does everything right on its own terms.


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## FrankinUsa (Aug 3, 2021)

Oh boy,I’m going to get in trouble. 
There have been strong reactions against using Blumine as the second movement. I love the movement itself and I actually much prefer it placed and played as the second movement. I think I “love” Mahler but I always was somewhat cool to the First and I just could not put my finger on the reason until I heard it played with Blumine as the 2nd movement and with it the symphony,imho” becomes more complete than the sans-Blumine standard version. So I think the reason I always was cool to it was I sensed that something was “missing”. It seemed incomplete. I have the Ormandy version but one recording that I prefer which I have is Yoel Levi/Atlanta Symphony/Telarc. There were actually quite a few very good performances of Mahler on Telarc split between Levy/ASO and Jesus Lopez Cobos/Cincinnati Orch. All with spectacular Telarc Sound Engineering. 
I guess that I felt that the First was missing the gorgeous slow movements present in the rest of Mahler’s symphonies. So I might prefer the First with Blumine because I am listening to it with a memory of all of Mahler’s symphonies. Of course when Mahler composed the First he did not yet have the complete “sound world” that he created in the rest of his symphonies. There does not seem to be a clear definitive reason why Mahler removed Blumine. I’m just guessing that Mahler was trying to get his first symphony to be accepted and returned to the tradition 4 movement symphony. Of course,in his next symphony, Sym2/Resurrection,Mahler completely threw out any reservations about the number of movements. 
In the traditional 4 movement,one recording that I really like is Manfred Honeck/Pittsburgh Sym/Exton.


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