Mahler: Symphony No. 1

Chronique

Semyon Bychkov's series of Mahler symphonies with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra seems to be getting better and better as it proceeds, and this absolutely superb 2023 release landed on classical best-seller lists in the late summer of 2023. There are other great recordings of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 in D major ("Titan"), going all the way back to Leonard Bernstein, but Bychkov's concept is unique. The general approach to Mahler, including by Bernstein, emphasizes the garish Viennese decadence. Bychkov is different; he holds the scene in perfect control, allowing chaotic intensity to flower only at carefully chosen moments (the end of the first movement and certainly the finale). In Bychkov's hands, all the Viennese songs, the bird calls, the marches, and fanfares appear as natural parts of a giant tableau of Central European life. The use of the folk song known as Bruder Martin (or Jakob) in German and Frère Jacques in French, in the minor key, is not belabored with a ghostly mood (and apparently in minor is how the Viennese normally sang it). Instead, it is a bit of dark shade to balance the sunny first movement. The level of detail in the orchestra is absolutely unparalleled; clearly, Bychkov has done nothing to damage the bred-in-the-bone familiarity the Czech Philharmonic has when it comes to Mahler. However, that would be nothing without an overall plan, and Bychkov has that. He shifts the emphasis overall to the finale, which here has a truly shattering effect. One can now understand the shock with which audiences initially greeted the symphony, even though it is not particularly atonal. There is much more to discover, and PentaTone's strikingly clear engineering treatment of the Rudolfinium in Prague has it all on crystalline display. One of the best recordings of 2023.
© James Manheim /TiVo