# Best digital recording of the Mahler 1st symphony....



## Itullian

What would you suggest?
Thanks :tiphat:


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## SixFootScowl

I just found this and it looks like a winner. Assume that it must be digital being a 2016 release.
Clips here.


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## realdealblues

If I had to pick a newer favorite "digital" recording...

Michael Gielen/SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden


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## DarkAngel

I always thought this was an outstanding double CD set, 1985 DDD......but you should also have the complete set!

Also.......


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## Merl

I've championed the Nezet-Seguin for some time now but these are even more impressive (especially Honeck). Duggan's survey desperately needs updating.


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## 13hm13

Not sure what OP means by "recording" -- i.e., performance, sound recording (technical), analog vs. digital.

In any case ...

From what I can hear at YouTube fidelity, this one sounds good:






Symphony No. 1 in D Major: I. Langsam, schleppend · Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major & Blumine

℗ 2015 Ondine

Released on: 2015-11-13

Conductor: Hannu Lintu
Orchestra: Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra


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## Merl

13hm13 said:


> Not sure what OP means by "recording" -- i.e., performance, sound recording (technical), analog vs. digital.
> 
> In any case ...
> 
> From what I can hear at YouTube fidelity, this one sounds good:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Symphony No. 1 in D Major: I. Langsam, schleppend · Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
> 
> Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major & Blumine
> 
> ℗ 2015 Ondine
> 
> Released on: 2015-11-13
> 
> Conductor: Hannu Lintu
> Orchestra: Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra


Great shout. Cracking account.


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## Becca

When the Nezet-Seguin 1st came out I had a chance to listen to it a couple of times and found it quite interesting, certainly very well recorded. I haven't listened to it since then until a few days ago when I played it again. The following evening I played the live Kubelik recording (Audite) and was immediately struck by how much more I was hearing in his performance. I was so surprised by the difference that I went back and resampled parts of the YNS recording to see if I was imagining things ... I wasn't. So my opinion is that the YNS is good with great sound but it really does not dig very deep into the symphony.

P.S. I generally have a good opinion of YNS from some recordings (particularly the Dresden Bruckner 3rd) and his Berlin Phil. concerts.


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## 13hm13

Performance on this one is so-so. But recording is top-notch.


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## 13hm13

Performance-wise, my fave Mahler 1 is this 1981 digital recording:









Claudio Abbado ‎- Symphony No. 1, CSO.

Recording-wise, it does suffer from midrange hardness that plagues many digital recordings (until only about the past 10-15 years). And the DG label was, IMO, one of the worst-sounding major labels recording digitally. That said, this performance is still my 1st choice for M1. Consistent, even pacing being one attribute.


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## Merl

13hm13 said:


> Performance-wise, my fave Mahler 1 is this 1981 digital recording:
> 
> View attachment 111184
> 
> 
> Claudio Abbado ‎- Symphony No. 1, CSO.
> 
> Recording-wise, it does suffer from midrange hardness that plagues many digital recordings (until only about the past 10-15 years). And the DG label was, IMO, one of the worst-sounding major labels recording digitally. That said, this performance is still my 1st choice for M1. Consistent, even pacing being one attribute.


I'm not an Abbado in Mahler fan but if you like that 1981 studio 1st you'll love his 1989 live account (released 1991) with the BPO. It's far and away (to my ears) one of the the best Abbado Mahler performances. Recorded sound is very good and it's a seriously well-played and realised version. It used to be in my top ten 1sts but newer, superb 1sts have just squeezed it out. However it remains an excellent 1st and highly recommendable.


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## Joe B




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## 13hm13

*Alsop/Baltimore SO/2008 live recording*

I own _this_ 2008 live recording and it may be my fave M1. (Yes, I have picked a new fave since post #10 -- thx to the OP for making me search my harddrive library!!)

It's a "*digital*" recording, for sure, with lots of dynamics and _deep_ bass. But there is no midrange hardness (common of some poorly done digital).

How about the performance? The last mvt. is the acid test -- have a listen:


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## Becca

13hm13 said:


> Performance on this one is so-so. But recording is top-notch.
> 
> View attachment 111179


For me, performance quality trumps audio quality. There are so very many Mahler 1st recordings out there and many excellent performances that I am not going to waste my time on so-so performances.


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## 13hm13

Becca said:


> For me, performance quality trumps audio quality. There are so very many Mahler 1st recordings out there and many excellent performances that I am not going to waste my time on so-so performances.


As I go thru the M1 recordings on TIDAL and in my collection (like the 2009 Ozawa ), I'm re-evaluating all my rankings. And I'll give this one "B+" for performance and "A" for recording. I think it's on Spotify as well.


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## Merl

I have heard the Ozawa (but dont have it) and have the Alsop 1st on disc. Totally agree about the Ozawa. Its a very good Mahler 1st but not quite in the class of those ive recommended but ive always liked Ozawa's Mahler an, in particular, his first Mahler 1 from the late 70s . As for the Alsop i love the 3rd and 4th movements but have always felt that the 1st and 2nd movements drag a tiny bit. Recorded sound is absolutely first rate for Alsop with a lovely deep bass, though.


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## Kiki

This one from 1977, Merl? Mine is a reissue in 1984 that included the Blumine. I wonder if the original release included it.









The 1977 Ozawa sounds fresher than the 1987 remake. The 1987 account is, um, more in-control. Both are well-played, no-nonsense accounts. Haven't yet heard the Saito Kinen account. Is it really that bad?


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## 13hm13

Merl said:


> As for the Alsop i love the 3rd and 4th movements but have always felt that the 1st and 2nd movements drag a tiny bit. Recorded sound is absolutely first rate for Alsop with a lovely deep bass, though.


Alsop can drag a bit BUT she keeps tempo steady and even (unlike, e.g., Berstein, who drifts and the orchestra, at times, sounds rushed).
About the Alsop recording ... the deep bass is perhaps the best I've heard for M1 (except, perhaps, some BBC Proms perfs), but is overall a bit "bloated". The 2008 Ozawa/Saito Kinen recording is my fave of the ones I've thus far heard.

Kiki wrote:


> Haven't yet heard the Saito Kinen account. Is it really that bad?


I didn't say it was bad


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## Kiki

13hm13 said:


> ...
> I didn't say it was bad


You certainly didn't, 13hm13, and I wasn't questioning your comment either. I just got intrigued, about how so-so the Saito Kinen account is. In a sea of superb Mahler 1 recordings, to investigate further on a so-so performance would be a low priority for me, to put it nicely.


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## starthrower

This one sounds great on my stereo. I'm not qualified to critique performances. I'm not sure how many people here are qualified? But everybody's got an opinion.


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## Josquin13

Once you've heard Mahler's protégé F. Charles Adler conduct the 1st symphony it's difficult to call any recording of the 1st from the digital era "great", or even "very good". Next to Adler, they all sound outside the music to me, to varying degrees of course. I also think that Adler's use of violin slides is thoroughly appropriate for this symphony, and expect that Mahler would have thought so too--as it's integrally tied to the content of the music, IMO. Unfortunately, digital era conductors & orchestras don't use violin slides anymore.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/art-of-charles-adler-mw0001365006

If you're an audiophile--if that's why you want to find a very good digital era recording, I'd suggest that you sample two Mahler 1sts on the Japanese Exton label--from Sakari Oramo & the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and from Zdenek Macal and the Czech Philharmonic. The Exton sonics are spectacular for both, and in Mahler that counts for a lot. Manfred Honeck's Exton recording may be good too, but I've not heard it. Sound-wise, I don't think you can do better than Exton hybrid SACD recordings in Mahler's Symphonies. It's a joy to be able to hear all of Mahler's score in such great detail, almost like in a concert hall, especially since Mahler's music is so difficult to record well:

https://www.allmusic.com/album/mahler-symphony-no-1-titan-mw0002030664
https://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Czech...536628&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=mahler+1+macal
https://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symph...id=1546538785&sr=1-1&keywords=honeck+mahler+1

As for the best performances, that's a different matter. Bernard Haitink tends to be good in Mahler's 1st, but his Berlin PO on Philips is the weakest of his several recordings, IMO. His 1972 Concertgebouw reading is better, but it's analogue. I've not heard Haitink's more recent CSO live recording, and it comes on hybrid SACD, so it may be worth checking out--although I've not been overly keen on any of the recordings I've heard from Haitink in Chicago: https://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symph...6557043&sr=1-1&keywords=Mahler+1+haitink+sacd . IMO, Haitink's best Mahler has come from his live Christmas Matinee concerts at the Concertgebouw, given between 1977-87. But I'm not sure if the Mahler 1st from the live Philips box set is "digital" or not. It's an excellent performance though.

https://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symphonies-Christmas-Bernard-Haitink/dp/B01HV9BD8A

Apart from Haitink, I'd suggest that you sample the following digital recordings:

1. Klaus Tennstedt, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, live (slow & intense)--this recording was Tennstedt's answer to his lame studio London Philharmonic 1st on EMI, which the conductor wasn't happy with, & wanted to record again:






https://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symph...1546538122&sr=1-6&keywords=tennstedt+mahler+1

(You might also look into Tennstedt's LPO live recording, which I've not heard: https://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Songs...1546538122&sr=1-1&keywords=tennstedt+mahler+1)

2. Riccardo Muti, Philadelphia Orchestra, EMI (this is a very fine Mahler 1st, IMO--though some have complained about the early digital era sound): 




https://www.amazon.com/Symphony-No-...=1546557111&sr=1-2&keywords=Mahler+1+muti+emi

3. Pierre Boulez, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, DG: 




https://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symph...id=1546557188&sr=1-1&keywords=Mahler+1+boulez

4. Leif Segerstam, Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Chandos: a slowish, but wonderfully detailed reading; however, some may find it a tad ponderous in places. I don't. The 4th movement is remarkable, & a real stand out. Segerstam's recording attractively comes coupled with Mahler's abandoned Blumine, so the listener has the option of programming the disc with the Blumine movement put back into its original context:


















https://www.allmusic.com/album/mahler-symphony-no1-symphonic-movement-blumine-mw0001368025
https://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Symph...d=1546557233&sr=1-7&keywords=Mahler+segerstam

Next to the above recordings, I find Abbado, Chailly RCO, & Bernstein DG to be overrated in the 1st. I've not heard Nézet-Séguin's Mahler 1st on BR Klassik, but that label usually offers first rate sound. Nor have I heard Chailly's live Leipzig 1st, but have very much liked what I've heard from that cycle so far, generally preferring it to his earlier RCO Decca cycle:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/dv...MIr_S2yeLS3wIVFbjACh11qABOEAQYAiABEgIUA_D_BwE
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mahler-Symphony-Gewandhausorchester-Riccardo-Accentus/dp/B0788XVFFH


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## geralmar

For an outlier this 1994 recording by an orchestra that went belly up in 2003 was critically well received in its time.


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## Merl

geralmar said:


> For an outlier this 1994 recording by an orchestra that went belly up in 2003 was critically well received in its time.


I've not heard that one, geralmar. I still need to investigate it. Thanks for the reminder. BTW, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Simonov and the RPO's account of the 1st. Its been available in many guises over the years but I have it as part of the Brilliant Classics Mahler symphony set (see pic belowl. Ive always loved this spirited, vividly recorded version. Okay its a bit strident at times but Simonov really keeps a loose reign and obviously the orchestra loved that. For sheer visceral excitement it's among the best and it can be picked up for buttons online. The finale leaves you breathless. Get it.


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