Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major ‘Titan’
I have written before about Mahler’s symphony #1. When I was a member of the Minneapolis Civic Orchestra, I performed this music and that’s when I learned its many intricacies.
This music was written when the composer was only in his late twenties, In this vast symphony, we hear his love of nature and beauty, Mahler’s childhood memories, fragments of distant military music, birdsong and even Yiddish folk tunes as they blend together into a tribute to life and hope.
The fact that Mahler’s first was debuted in the Hungarian capital Budapest gives Ivan Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra a unique connection to its history. This new CD recording brings out all the nuances and colors of the work, from its softest pianissimos to its most thundering climaxes.
Performed by the Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Iván Fischer
On the left, see a small section of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, taken while they performed this work.
Here is what the Sunday Times wrote on 19th August 2012
“Fischer’s elite band have already displayed superb Mahlerian credentials. This lovely account of the First…is especially remarkable in Fischer’s delicate, chamber-like intimacy in repose and his lilting, rustic way with the Ländler-like dance rhythms.”
Here is the opening of the Mahler Symphony No.1, with Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra
And here is the last movement of the Mahler Symphony No.1, with Iván Fischer and Budapest Festival Orchestra
Tags: Gustav Mahler, Symphony 1, Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra