Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 1 D major
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly, conductor
Including bonus: Interview with Riccardo Chailly on Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1
Gustav Mahler‘s Symphony No. 1 is an incomprehensible wonder of music history, rigorously peculiar, disturbingly new, and timelessly modern. “Wie ein Naturlaut” („Like a sound of nature“) is indicated above the first notes of the symphony. It is both the prelude and the key to his symphonic cosmos as a whole. Mahler‘s music captures this music of the world, transforms it into a symphony in the old, comprehensive sense of the word and uses it to create his masterpiece of harmony. From the connotation of militarily marches to folk songs, from dance and popular music to animal sounds: everything has its place in Mahler‘s symphonic world.
Composed over the course of just a few months at the beginning of 1888 in Leipzig, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 is a true musical awakening. Riccardo Chailly and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig bring Mahler’s sounds of nature to life in a riveting performance.
Recorded at the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig
January 2015
“A model of its kind, and a fine continuation of the Mahler-on-DVD legacy after the inimitable Abbado performances from Lucerne. [..] In other words, short of the score, your complete kit for Mahler One.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2018
“Multi-miked sound matches picture, taking you right inside Mahler’s orchestration” Gramophone Editor’s Choice June 2018 (read the full article here)
“very worth seeing and listening to” SWR2 (read the full article here)
“Riccardo Chailly conducts Mahler’s First Symphony with a great sensitivity, many colours and stunning contrasts.” Pizzicato (read the full article here)
