‘In full sail’ (Mahler’s original title for the second movement) could be a motto for the whole symphony. Here is the young Mahler, full of optimism. We hear his loveof nature and beauty, and his childhood memories. Fragments of distant military music, birdsong and Yiddish folk tunes come to his yet untormented mind. These episodes are real jewels, especially the Viennese trio in the second movement, the briefKlezmer music, then the Schubert-like Lied (did he have the Lindenbaum in mind?) in thethird; and the poetic, gentle melody that interrupts the stormy final movement.Admirable too is the architecture, as the composer completes his journey from hell to paradise, “dall’inferno al paradiso”, in the footsteps of his idol Beethoven. Mahler was in his late twenties when the world made acquaintance with his first symphony. It was in the Hungarian capital Budapest, and circumstances were difficult.In the diffuse acoustics of the Vigadó Hall, surrounded by hatred and mistrust, Mahler experienced his first major flop. Since then, at each performance I feel that we Hungarians have a moral duty to convince audiences that this is a perfect and exceptionally beautiful masterpiece. Iván Fischer
Press reviews:
Jury rapport Edison Award Mahler 1
The combination of Iván Fischer and Gustav Mahler is a happy one, as has been proven before. Beautiful recordings of, among others, the Fourth Symphony are the result. Fischer and his own orchestra have added an almost perfect interpretation to the overflowing CD catalog with performances of the First Symphony. With Fischer it is not: look what I do with this piece! He does add his own accents, but Mahler's music flows in a completely natural way. The tempi are ideal, the phrasing and dynamics completely self-evident, as if there is no interpretation between score and performance.
For Iván Fischer, this First Symphony is the creation of a young, optimistic Mahler who is full of love for nature and beauty. And that is exactly what you hear in this version: radiant sunlight. Far away are dark shadows that sometimes fall over this score with other conductors. Fischer is aided by a beautifully playing Budapest Festival Orchestra (with warm horns and silky strings) and a sensational recording that is spacious yet transparent, so that even the softest passages come into their own.
Mahler's First Symphony had a disastrous premiere in Budapest in 1889, but Iván Fischer and his musicians provide a glorious revenge 124 years later.
SA-CD.net 5 out of 5
Ivan Fischer and his marvellous Budapest Festival Orchestra have a already given us outstanding recordings of Mahler’s 2nd, 4th and 6th. His latest recording, that of the 1st Symphony, benefits immensely from the magnificent quality of the recorded sound achieved by engineers Jared Sacks and Hein Dekker (…) As one might expect from these musicians, the tempestuous finale, with its journey from anguish to triumph, is characterised by breathtaking orchestral playing throughout. (…) one’s admiration for what Fischer achieves grows with each subsequent playing of this superb recording.
5 stars
Het Parool
The Hungarians rise to great heights. This is one of the most interesting and musically convincing recordings of the piece out there. The silent introduction seldom sounded so tense, the development and the second movement seldom so exciting, the trio in the scherzo never so Jewish (Mahler as klezmer composer!) and the Vader Jacob motif never so mysterious. Beautiful.
Gramophone
Right from the beginning, Fischer combs through every nuance in Mahler’s score, his brilliant rendering of orchestral sonorities – both individually and blended – deftly recorded by Channel. The first movement alone confirms Fischer’s growing credentials as a major Mahler interpreter.
Presto Classical
Is another recording really necessary? Happily, when it involves Iván Fischer and The Budapest Festival Orchestra, the answer is a resounding yes! (…) There’s a wonderfully Hungarian character to the sound in a lot of places, especially in the woodwind and brass. (…) By bringing to the fore touches such as the cheeky, Klezmer-like clarinets, the oompah of the bass drum and cymbals, and exaggerated violin glissandos, Fischer succeeds in creating that rustic, unrefined feel more than most recordings I’ve heard.
Diapason
His direction, full of tenderness and nostalgia, is one of the few today to find the roots of a Central European style where one knows how to go beyond the notes to invoke a lost paradise. (…) His [Ivan Fischer’s] conducting, full of tenderness and nostalgia, is one of the rare ones today to join the roots of a Central European style that knows to go beyond the notes in order to invoke a lost paradise.
Diapason d'Or
MusicWeb
Iván Fischer opens the first movement with great delicacy as if Nature herself were setting the pace and the recording allows us to savour that delicacy, especially in 24/96 mode. Later, however, as everything bursts fully into life at the end of the movement, natura naturans, there’s plenty of power where it’s needed. (…)
recording of the month
CDChoice
Fischer’s evocation of Mahler’s “ like a sound of nature” could not have been better captured by the skill of these sonic magicians. (…) one’s admiration for what Fischer achieves grows with each subsequent playing of this superb recording. Unreservedly recommended.
Klassic.com
Fischer's inimitable ability to make the flow of music with the finest rubati at the same time fluid and extremely supple, also pays off here. (…) What distinguishes the collaboration between Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra above all is the attention to detail. (...) In terms of sound, Channel has once again achieved a discographic diamond with this production.
Musikzen
Iván Fischer gives popular accents to Mahler's Titan (...) the highlight of this interpretation is in the third movement: one feels there passing, as on a road of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, a procession of gypsies, a band of buskers, the hubbub of a tavern. With small touches, Ivan Fischer knows how to shed light on all this without falling into vulgarity or forcing the line.
Classics Today 5 out of 5
The playing on this disc is so beautiful that it will take your breath away. (…) As with all the performances from Fischer and his orchestra, conductor and ensemble operate as a single organism. (…)
10/10
BBC Music Magazine
Eloquence in all departmenets was to be expected from Iván Fischer and his hyper-alert Hungarians. (…) The recording, perfect from the gleam of ländlers and lullabies through the final bass-heavy thunder, plays its part in a vivid interpretation which deserves a place of honour alongside those of Leonard Bernstein, Mariss Jansons and Rafael Kubelik.
Rondo
It is a real pleasure to listen to this Mahler interpretation (...) It is, no doubt, a serene Mahler that the Budapesters present, but one who will assert itself in the spectrum of the interpretations presented here due to its undeniable advantages.
Ariama
Fischer and company give us one of best recordings of the work currently available. (…) First thing that catches your attention is the incredible dynamic range of the recording. This is a work that opens with a whisper and closes with a roar and every note is captured with stunning realism. The phrase “demonstration quality sound” is tossed around quite a bit, but this recording is the real deal. (…)This may be one of the most classically perfect Mahler Firsts ever. (…) This is stunning on every level.
Audiophile Audition 5 out of 5
It is one smooth performance, almost hyper-rich in its luxuriant feeling, and the spectacular surround makes us hear things we simply don’t hear in other recordings. The balance is exceptional and palpably deep in scope, an orchestra as it was meant to be heard.
5 stars
thewholenote.com
Conductor Iván Fischer, in his notes to this new recording with his elite Budapest Festival Orchestra, writes that ever since “at each performance we Hungarians have a moral duty to convince audiences that this is a perfect and exceptionally beautiful masterpiece.” Mission accomplished! This is a performance of remarkable sensitivity, ranging from the intimacy of chamber music to the most powerful, heaven-storming explosions, masterfully recorded in first class studio sound. The dynamic range is exceptionally vivid, tempos are flexible without ever becoming neurotic and the interpretation is thoroughly convincing throughout. The near doubling of the tempo in the closing pages provides a novel and exhilarating conclusion to a truly admirable performance, one of the very best I’ve heard in decades.
Preis de Schallplattenkritik
Iván Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra prove once again that they are among the best in the world. This recording of Gustav Mahler's First Symphony captivates with its dark, warm orchestral colors and moderate tempos, which nonetheless allow for a large, exciting arc: dynamic contrasts, meticulous detailed work is embedded in the calm sovereignty of the music-making. And everything that one expects from Mahler's First is finely worked out: natural sounds, folkloric echoes, song quotations, bohemian impressions.
www.musicaltorontoThe opening section, which depicts the world coming to life in the morning is the sonic equivalent of watching something on the National Geographic Channel with a 55-inch TV. (…) It’s Fischer’s busyness that speaks so directly to our time-challenged lives. It’s the power of his musical vision that causes us to stop and go, oh, wow, what was that? And I guess that’s what we need.
Fanfare
“This is the most gorgeously sonorous version of the symphony I’ve heard since Maurice Abravanel’s with the Utah Symphony. Fischer gives us velvety violins (divided left and right), warm and mellow winds, and glowing brass…This is a perceptive and unique interpretation, to which I have listened six times yet feel that I am just scratching the surface.”
