Symphonie Nr. 1

"Editor's choices - February 2018: More lyrical and less overtly rustic than his brother Iván's account on Channel Classics, the elder Fischer's Mahler One is just as captivating on its own terms. Spring unfolds with leisurely charm, and his way with the middle movements are especially illuminating: the second's trio is almost Rosenkavalier-esque, and there are some delicious flirtations with cabaret in the third".

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"Although without the fullness of orchestral sound ... , under Ádám Fischer the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker is in sparkling form delivering a performance that feels fresh and distinctive with a deeply intense atmosphere that is entirely compelling".

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"Recording of the week: If you're at all interested in orchestration then it's fascinating to be able to see the hundreds of tiny changes that Mahler made, and, in conjunction with this wonderful recording, to hear the impact that they make on the mood and emotion of the piece ... The more incisive attack and articulation of the gut strings combined with the smaller bore of the brass instruments reveals one of this performance's major virtues: you can hear a wealth of detail in Mahler's string writing that often gets buried under loud brass chords".

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"Recommended: In quieter moments the strings continue to shine, in every sense of the word. And goodness, the closing pages are worth the wait, Roth heightening suspense with all the skill and confidence of a master. His assembled horns whoop with the best of them, and his transported drummers trump them with a truly storming send-off. Bravo, bravo and thrice bravo! Quite possibly Roth's finest Mahler yet; an invaluable addition to the catalogue".

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"Recommended: This is a very fine Mahler recording by François-Xavier Roth. Though the interest may lie in the use of period instruments and his reversion to Mahler's 1893/4 score, I think it's perfectly legitimate also to consider this as a performance of Mahler's First with the addition of 'Blumine' ... I'd certainly call it an ear-opener".

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"Vurdering: Recording of the month" - "All these players respond to this glorious score with such ease and affection. As if that weren't enough the recording is warm, deep and nicely detailed. Nézet-Séguin gets the tempo relationships just right ... Goodness, this is shaping up to be an exceptional First, so full of apt imagination and bucolic charm ... An electrifying Mahler First, superbly played and recorded; one of the best things I've heard this year".

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"Der er næsten ekspressionistisk over Valerij Gerfiev s gengivelse. En sådan dramatisk tolkning vil næppe passe til al Mahler, men her fungerer den strålende. En flot optagelse udgivet af London Symphony fra januar i år".

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"Editor's choice: This is a terrific account of Mahler's fledgling symphony - full of the rashness and impetuosity of youth and the wild imaginings that go hand in hand with it ... There is an extraordinary kinship and telepathy between Fischer and his Düsseldorf orchestra ... This is shaping up to be the most idiomatic and exciting cycle of Mahler symphonies since Kubelík and Bernstein".

"The recording also sticks a feather in the cap of Les Siècles, among the most adaptable and engaging of today's historically informed ensembles formed in the image of their director ... I applaud, too, Roth's unabashed commitment to those passages of the finale where Mahler himself later had second thoughts - deft and ingenious ones, to be sure, but thinning out its red blood cells in the process ... This new Titan is a required supplement to any decent-size Mahler library".

"Vurdering: Diapason d'or".

"Much of the First Symphony is uncommonly gentle for all that the conductor enjoys whipping up a storm at movement ends ... Strongly recommended".

"The broad outlines of the performance are near-identical to previously issued Jansons accounts from Oslo and Amsterdam ... There is a Bavarian solidity to the rough Landler rhythms of the Scherzo, and the slow movement's night processional ... is beautifully rendered in subdued timbres, and Jansons judges to perfection the 'Jewish' interventions of the village band".

"Jansons and his Dutch team are on great form ... The sound though is like the playing, both sophisticated and soft-focus ... Jansons devotees need not hesitate".

"Their power and fascination offer irresistible bait to discover anew what makes this composer such a maddingly compelling phnomenon. More, please!".

"Where the recording really succeeds, though, is in extending that musical lineage through Anton Webern ... At bottom, this respectable programme succeeds in making us comtemplate a world of possibilities and of roads not taken".

"Valery Gergiev er blevet kaldt verdens bedste dirigent ... men som Mahler-dirigent hæver han sig ikke over gennemsnittet. Live-optagelserne ... er glimrende, især er orkesterspillet meget overlegent, men indlevelsen savnes, det hele virker trods alt lidt uvedkommende".

"Vurdering: Editor's choice" - "From Gergiev's oddly prosaic account of the pre-dawn stirrings (no mystery, no magic) to the emppty bluster of his finale, this is a cold, loveless, loud performance. The LSO flex their collective muscle all right but rarely warm to the music's enticement".

"Vurdering: Diapason d'or" - "Allaient-ils renouveler le miracle? A 90 [procent] oui ... Sa direction pleine de tendresse et de nostalgie est l'une des rares aujourd'hui".

"At last year's Proms, the word 'breathtaking' has surfaced more than once. And indeed, for those looking to relive the experience ... Channel Classics now has a fine document of Fischer with his players ... Though this performance has much to offer - poise, intensity, dignity - we shouldn't lose sight of what it is not: impulsive, folk-like, impetuous".

"Here's a Mahler First with a strong point of view, one that sounds especially fresh and distinctive in the wake of Marin Alsop's dreary run-through with the Baltimore Symphony ... As a strongly conceived and expertly executed alternative version of Mahler's most popular symphony, it is well worth hearing".

"Surprisingly perhaps it was made in the studio, the clarity of inner voices and the bold projection of percussion seemingly prioritised over any attempt to evoke the glow of the ensemble's live music-making in the fabled Musikverein ... His [Luisi] first movement, while fresh and genial, is a little short on mystery ... Luisi, like several recent exponents, launches the slow movement with massed double basses rather than that vulnerable-sounding solo instrument of old ... Much more convincing is his super-articulate launch of the finale, the whole movement splendidly vivid".

"The Bavarians, with their long experience of performing Mahler, deliver superbly precise and expressive playing for their guest conductor ... The performance of the finale in particular marries discipline with power and impetus, bringing the symphony to a rousing conclusion ... There's a lot to admire in this new recording".