I’m beginning to think that Mahler’s First Symphony is conductor-proof. Almost every version I’ve heard lately has merit and Marin Alsop’s with the Baltimore Symphony is no exception, despite an overall restraint. The opening of the first movement, surely one of the most magical of any symphony, is very slow until the explosion in the coda. In fact, the first three movements are all slightly slower than usual, whereas the final one is slightly swifter. Perhaps the second Scherzo/Ländler movement lacks the last ounce of what Germans call schwung – bounce or swing – but the central section doesn’t sound too inebriated, as it sometime can.

I wondered whether or not it was just me who thought that the third-movement funeral march (Frère Jacques in a minor key) seemed to have been recorded at a higher level than the rest, and I’ve since discovered another review which garnered the same reaction. Another unwelcome development is the double bass melody, which forms the backbone of the movement, being played by the entire section, not a solo. The same reviewer who noticed the disparate recording levels also points out, helpfully, that the Jewish klezmer music in the trio is conducted with what his grandmother would have called “Goyishe Kop” – that is, it doesn’t “swing” – as it does in Kubelik’s ancient version. (Kubelik was a gentile, as am I.) The impact of the chaos of the final movement’s opening is also slightly blunted by the preceding movement’s recording level.

I’ll bet the effect in the concert hall (this was a live performance, which increases my admiration for the whole enterprise) was stunning. Nevertheless, Alsop keeps the music moving effectively and convincingly by refusing to swoon over the more lyrical passages and the peroration is fine. It’s a pity they didn’t include the discarded Blumine movement as a filler.

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