Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Curtain and Fanfare., 22 Aug 2003
"Curtain and Fanfare" is the title of the first chapter in Theodor W. Adorno's Mahlerian analysis, "Mahler: A Musical Physiognomy." Immediately after an introductory paragraph, Adorno begins his insightful, if idiosyncratic, analysis of the symphonies with this characterization of the First Symphony. The work does begin, after all, with the sense of a curtain being raised on a nature vista, perhaps on a hot summer morning, with all the strings playing an "A" spanning the full range of octaves. It is a hazy, "dawny" sound – heightened by having all but the lowest double basses playing the notes as harmonics – that is soon broken by the imitative sounds of cuckoos, as if peering through this hazy curtain. Not long after, the first of the fanfares begins, initially softly, on muted trumpets. Then, soon enough, these muted fanfares give way to an explosion of stirring fanfares in the full brass choir. And by the time we reach the final blaze of the concluding pages of the fourth movement, there is no question whatsoever regarding the aptness of the "fanfare" appellation. In between the opening curtain and the closing fanfares, we hear a second movement based on the rustic Austrian ländler and a third movement that is a parody – in minor key – of the famous "Frère Jacques" song. The work is a "first symphony" effort so original and so distinctive in the way it announces the arrival of a new compositional voice that I think it has only one other 19th-century equal in these qualities of originality and distinctiveness in the genre: the Symphonie Fantastique of Hector Berlioz.The recording is so realistic in its sound stage, and the instrumentalists so perfect in their playing, and Tilson Thomas so spot-on in his reading of the work, that I initially came away with the sense – and continue to do so – that here, at long last, is a performance that captures those uniquely Adornian "curtain and fanfare" descriptors set out above. My highest kudos go to the orchestra musicians themselves. While unquestionably Tilson Thomas has succeeded in elevating the performance level of the orchestra beyond what it had ever been before, what I hear here is really something special. Nowhere is this more evident than in the fanfares themselves, whether unison trumpets or full brass choir in chordal harmony. The crispness and accuracy of attack, as well as the perfect intonation of these brass players, is something one is seldom fortunate to experience. And one really DOES know when these matters of attack and intonation are dealt with accurately, and when they are not. There is so little that I can fault about this performance that it borders on nit-picking (and likely unfair nit-picking at that). The double bass soloist in the "Frère Jacques" movement, like most, uses a modest amount of vibrato when none at all is likely more appropriate. And, in the final movement, there is a quiet interlude – a period of repose – which, if listened to very carefully, suggests a precursor, in style, of the later Mahler yet to come. I think that in this rather brief interlude Bernstein II captures that sense slightly better. But to me the overall balance of matters seems quite clear. This Tilson Thomas/SFSO Mahler 1 is the one to have. It's not inexpensive. But, unless you're an absurd Mahler completist like me, it's the only one you'll ever need.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mahler Symphony No. I San Francisco SymphonyOrchestra Thomas, 11 Nov 2002
This is the second issue of the proposed SFSO/Tilson Thomas live Mahler series to be issued on SACD. Numder 6 was generally very well received as a performance and highly rated as a sound recording. Reviews of this disk have been similarly favourable and deservedly so. The performance takes some time to get into its stride compared with Walter, Bernstein or Solti and the first two movements are good though not not outstanding. The third and fourth movements are on a wholly different level. Tilson Thomas' fine ear for orchestral colour comes into its own in the third movement which ,unusually, does not drag and shows Thomas'appreciation of both the structure of the work and its wit.The final movement is superbly brought off with both extreme delicacy when demanded and climaxes well built up to overwhelming power. Four stars then for the performance but five for the recording which is of demonstration quality throughout. I look forward to the issue of the third symphony which has already been recorded.Highly recomended
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not the ultimate 1st but very, very good., 11 May 2004
The sound here is just about perfect. It's immediate without being too close, clean without being clinical, up-front without being in-your-face, detailed without being spotlit, cool without being cold - a tremendous achievement. The surround mix is hugely impressive, with really physical percussion but also with beautifully judged silences. The sound picture is high, wide and handsome. And the disc is mercifully free of the applause which spoils the end of the Haenchen Mahler 5th on Pentatone. If I have one complaint its that the sound is too good, - I found the extraneous noises a trifle annoying. But that's live music making for you, - if you want venue ambience, then you have to put up with shuffles. Despite that, this is up there in Sonic Rosette-land. The performance, too, is excellent, though not quite good enough to beat the very best. MTT conducts without hysteria or indulgence and his orchestra is very, very fine. Pacing is both careful and exciting. However, in the final analysis, whilst this is a very fine performance, it doesn't quite convince as much as Abbado (a personal favourite) nor grab me and bowl me over the way the second Bernstein recording does (the one with the Concertgebouw, on DG). That had, in addition to very good sound, an intensity which is totally convincing throughout but without the over-driven quality Bernstein brought to his first version with the NYPO (on Sony). If the DG Bernstein is a Rosette perf./5 star sonics then the MTT is a 4 star perf./Rosette sonics and that's pretty damned good. One for anyone's collection, without any reservation (but I want Lenny B and Claudio A. in there too).
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