Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1 / Songs of a Wayfarer - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Rafael Kubelik

Here's a delightful coupling: Mahler's First Symphony and the song cycle that donated many of its themes to the larger work. Best of all, both performances are superb. Rafael Kubelik is the dark horse among Mahler conductors. His interpretations are always fresh, unforced, and seemingly without exaggeration. However, he knows how to build a climax, and his generally swift tempos never permit a minute's boredom. There are many moments to cherish in his performance of the symphony, not least the delicious woodwind playing and the tangy trumpets in the third movement's Fiddler on the Roof music. Reissued at midprice in excellently remastered sound--better than most new digitals in many respects--this is a performance that remains one of the best, and as a coupling it's unbeatable. --David Hurwitz Amazon.com essential recording

Sublime

As a mere classical enthusiast I can't speak to the technical achievements of this recording, the best I can say is that it transports me to another world; sometimes terrible, sometimes beautiful beyond words. It's my absolute favorite musical recording. December 28, 2008

Dieskau Does Mahler

Combine Dieskau with Kubelik and you have a winning proposition! With the clarity and depth of emotion necessary for the music of Mahler, Dieskau brings the texts to life like no one else. The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra responds precisely to Kubelik's baton, giving a stirring performance of the Mahler 1st and of the Songs of a Wayfarer. For all Mahler fans, this is a must! July 23, 2007

Mahler Universal

I recently listened to officials of Israel's principal symphony orchestra being interviewed regarding the Venezuelan prodigy who was conducting the ring of Mahler symphonies in Tel Aviv. Not once was the issue of Mahler-in-Israel mentioned. Clearly, the conductor's reputation has been rehabilitated from its unfortunate association with the Führer and the musical predilections of his comrades-in-murder.

How fortunate, then, that one can celebrate this Deutsche Grammophon re-release of none other than Rafael Kubelik and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra making their briskly paced way through Mahler's First and then the Lieder without having to say more than a passing word about the constellation of musicians and composer. The performances were recorded in 1968 and 1970, respectively.

The BRSO sounds agile, almost petite, under Kubelik's baton. Those accustomed to linking Mahler to bombast may find themselves pleasantly surprised. The flute in the first movement lingers, but almost nobody else does.

Very fine Mahler, carried off with homeland panache. January 3, 2007

Fantastic Performance, Recording Lacks Bass

Even with the DG "Original Image Bit-Processing", this famous account of Mahler's 1st symphony sounds a bit wiry and thin in the big climaxes, negating some of the grandeur in the work.

Nonetheless this is one of the best performances this symphony has ever received. It's fresh, it's fast and full of life, something that many other slower interpretations tend to forget. I'm positive that Mahler himself would conduct the music in this more upbeat, driving fashion than the more plodding shenanigans of Bernstein or Solti, fine as they may be on their own merits.

If you want to hear a great but little known account of this symphony in wide ranging, high impact digital sound, seek out Andrew Litton's recording on Virgin Classics coupled together with a great performance of Mahler's 9th symphony by Libor Pesek. Other alternatives are of course, Bernstein, Solti, Abbado and the usual suspects. Still for me, this Mahler 1st by Kubelik will never go out of style. August 31, 2006

An amazing performance that plainly justifies its cult status!

About Mahler' s birthday's one hundred forty sixth, it particularly results interesting to underline this version is without hesitation, one of the most prodigious performances ever recorded before or even later, until this date. It would be risky to consider Rafael Kubelik as a Mahler' s specialist conductor, but he certainly was gifted of a clinical eye and the necessary wisdom to understand the universe of this kaleidoscopic musician who typifies as any other composer, the stressing and anguished world of the contemporary man, without emotional, affective center, profoundly desperate, immersed in a real existential whirlwind, without hindrances, imaginary futures, hopes and illusions.

This first symphony's performance is flamboyant, that reflects with lavish idiomatic spirit, the fears, but besides the hopeful and triumphal final climax in the last movement, that finds to Kubelik in the peak of his conductor powers, totally immersed in the core of the work.

A must-buy due, it's a collector item, deeply venerated and famously phrased by several generations of listeners and dilettantes.

July 7, 2006

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