Search - Gustav Mahler, Rafael Kubelik, Orchesta di Torino della Radio Italiana :: Mahler: Symphony No. 1

Kubelik owns this symphony

L. Johan Modée | Earth | 09/24/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rafael Kubelik has for long been the greatest exponent for Mahler's first symphony. This is due to his much acclaimed interpretation for DG, which has been the standard recommendation for this work since it first appeared in 1968.



Now there are four performances of Kubelik's Mahler 1 on record, the present disc included:



1. 1955, with Vienna Philharmonic (mono). Decca records. Not available at amazon.com, but try amazon.de or amazon.co.uk.



2. The present recording: 1956, with Orchestra di Torino della Radio Italiana (live, mono). Urania.



3. 1968, with Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (stereo). DG: Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1 / Songs of a Wayfarer - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Rafael Kubelik.



4. 1979, with Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (live, stereo): Mahler: Symphony No. 1. Audite.



As indicated above, the present recording was made "live" in 1956, and - according to Urania - it has not been available on record before. It was recorded during a broadcasted public performance by RAI, in Turin.



Kubelik's first recording for Decca is a delightful performance, and that is the case here too. This is not to say that these earlier recordings outshine the later ones. They are marginally faster, which cast a different perspective on the first movement in particular.



Orchestra di Torino della Radio Italiana is not the very best orchestra, but it plays with energy and passion under Kubelik's inspiring conducting - and that makes the present disc a better alternative than the Decca counterpart, since Vienna Philharmonic never has been a very good Mahler orchestra.



Even if the present performance is caught in a mono recording, it has very fine sound. You will soon forget that it is a mono recording, because the sound has both presence and dynamics.



Warmly recommended for the Mahlerite: you need to hear this superb performance, with all its energy and passion. References, in the same league (classic mono recordings) include Borsamsky (L'Art d' Ernest Borsamsky (conductor) - Recordings 1947-1949 - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5, Op. 47 / Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (L'Oiseau de Feu) / Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major "Titan" / Debussy: La Mer), Mitropoulos (Mahler/Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 1 "Titan"/The Isle Of The Dead), and Walter (Schubert: Symphonie D. 759; Mahler: Symphonie No. 1).

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