Gustav MAHLER
Symphony No.1 in D major
3 Lieder eines fahrenden
Gesellen*
Staatskapelle Dresden/Otmar
Suitner
Hermann Prey (Baritone)*
Berliner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester/Kurt Sanderling*
Recordings made in 1963 and
1961*
BERLIN CLASSICS 0030372BC
[65.20]
Many years ago Otmar Suitner's recording of Mahler's First Symphony was available
on a bargain-priced Deutsche Grammophon LP. It made little impression even
then when recordings of the work were far fewer, so I don't think it will
make much now when superb recordings are available even at bargain price.
His approach is soft-grained and lyrical and is assisted in this by a bass-biased
recording that, in parts of the first movement, throws a kind of veil over
what we hear. Underneath this is a rather sluggish development though things
liven up a little at the outburst signalling the recapitulation. The second
movement fares a little better though I do feel that more crunch is needed
at nodal points of the dance. In the third movement I was pleased, and surprised,
to hear a really weird sound from the double bass solo as it is surprising
how many conductors fail to get the principals of even the best orchestras
to sound anything other than model citizens, so a plus mark there. Generally
what we hear afterwards is a dark, sombre funeral march that is engaging
but little attempt is then made to bring out the grotesques that Mahler took
so much trouble to include. The limited recording gets in the way again at
the opening of the fourth movement too but this is still the best part of
the performance. Suitner's stress on melody and lyricism allows him to bring
feeling to the big theme of the movement and the strings of the Dresden
Staatskapelle do not let him down. There are passages where some momentum
is lost by dogged tempo choices, especially in the central "false" climax
passage, but there is more to be enjoyed here than earlier and the end comes
off quite well.
The coupling looks promising. In Hermann Prey you have a great stylist early
in a very distinguished career and in Kurt Sanderling one of the great conductors
of his generation. It is certainly true that they do not disappoint in Mahler's
early music but the problem is there are four Wayfarer songs in the
cycle and all we have here are three of them. For some unexplained reason
the stormy "Ich hab ein gluhend Messer" is missing and since these songs
are to be heard as a cycle this is like having a recording of one of the
symphonies with a movement missing and that is unacceptable.
Only an adequate performance of the symphony coupled with an incomplete one
of the song cycle.
Tony Duggan
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