Gustav Mahler

Symphony no. 1 (Hamburg 1893 version)

Netherlands Symphony Orchestra / Jan Willem de Vriend

Label: Challenge Classics
Format: SACD
Barcode: 0608917235524

Catalog number: CC 72355
Releasedate: 04-01-10

In 1893 Mahler restored his First Sympony. The movement called Blumine was put back in and the Sympony got the nickname 'Titan'. This version of the First Symphony is performed here in a lively, deeply musical and powerful way by the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jan Willem de Vriend!

Jan Willem de Vriend is chief-conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, and artistical director and first violinist of the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam
The Combattimento Consort already exits for 25 years!
With the Neth. Symphony Orch. De Vriend touches the broad symphonical spectrum, since a few years now
This is a new challenge which has splendid results such as this release
De Vriend is an impassioned musician and inspirator, a man who can tell a story with his musical interpretation
De Vriend regularly has tours abroad with Combattimento Consort and the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra

The first performance of the Symphonische Dichtung in Zwei Abtheilungen (Symphonic Poem in Two Parts), later his First Symphony, was conducted by Mahler in Budapest on 20 November 1889. It got a cool if not hostile reception, mainly because of the ‘bizarre, vulgar and cacophonic extravaganza’s’ of the last two movements. At least this was how it was felt, with the public and the critics in bewilderment especially after the finale’s unsurpassed ferocity. The final chords were followed by utter silence, until a few members of the audience hesitantly began to applaud, quickly interspersed with demonstrative sounds of disapproval. Mahler left the hall in devastation, roaming through the dark streets, like an ‘outcast’. Such hostility we cannot imagine anymore with this wonderful music today.

The version which is used on this recording is the 1893-restored version. It comprises two parts and five movements. Part one, called ‘Aus den Tagen der Jugend’: (From the Days of Youth): ‘Blumen-, Frucht- und Dornstücke’ (Flower-Fruit-and-Thorn-Pieces), contains the first three movements: 1. Spring goes on and on; 2. Andante – allegretto (‘Blumine’) and 3. Scherzo (‘Full Sail’). Part two, ‘Commedia umana’ (Human comedy), consists of 4. Funeral March in Callot’s manner and 5. Finale: From Inferno to Paradise.

Symphony no. 1 in D major (Hamburg 1893 version)

Langsam. Schleppend