Gustav Mahler Yoel Levi Atlanta Symphony Orchestra - Mahler Symphony No 1 Titan (5 tracks) +Album Reviews

A very good performance of the Titan

Trevor Gillespie | San Jose, California United States | 08/24/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The recording captures all of Mahler's sound effects splendidly. The orchestra playing is brilliant. The dynamics are wide ranging. Tempos are carefully chosen. Emotion and attention to detail are evident throughout. HOWEVER, my main drawback to this recording is the final movement. Everything seems just right up until that time. Someone in an earlier post used the word deliberate in explaining Levi's approach to tempo here in the last movement. I don't know whether this was deliberate or just how he envisioned the work to be, but the last movement is too slow. To use a metaphor, Levi is the hose that puts out the fire. Perhaps I am just too accustomed to L. Bernstein's approach of burn the barn down and everything within 50 miles too. However, I do know that this recording doesn't have that punch that you hope for in Mahler's First Symphony. Does that make it not worthy of a recommendation? No. It is a very good performance. Just remember as you listen to the first 4 movements (which actually build up quite well to the final movement) that perhaps you won't be as taken as you could be with another recording."

Fine Mahler 1ST

David Gottner | 10/10/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First off, engineering-wise this is the best Mahler 1ST on record. This is the closest that I've ever heard of **any** recording to bringing the concert hall to your living room. The bass is brought out very well, and when those bass drums go, your may jump, even at relatively low volume listening levels. The clarity is just astonishing, and has the Bernstein version on DG beat by a mile in terms of recording quality. (not an easy thing to do, as the DG version is also an excellent recording.) I'm definitely now on the lookout for more good Telarc "DSD" recordings!The performance is also very strong, and as a bonus Mahler's original second movement (which he later deleted) is included. I don't think that the restored movement really belongs in the symphony, and it's not one of Mahler's best slow movements anyway, but it's there for the curious. (and if you don't like it, you can program your CD player to skip over it.)In comparison to the DG version conducted by Bernstein (the only serious digital competition), I perfer Bernstein's version to this one. However Levi does a better job on the inner movements than Bernstein, particularily the 3RD movement ("Frere Jacques") where Levi captures that bittersweet mood much better than Bernstein. However, I prefer the outer movements of the Bernstein recording - the first movement evokes nature more clearly (IMO) in the Bernstein version, though this is splitting hairs, and the final movement is just a heck of a lot more exciting and satisfying with Bernstein at the helm (as another reviewer also mentioned.)"

A fine recording as Levi leaves Atlanta

W. R. Whittle | Cornelius, NC USA | 07/24/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As Levi moves on to the Flemish Radio Orchestra amid controversy, both he and Telarc have left us with a first rate recording of the Mahler 1st, with the rarely included Blumine movement to boot. Though not exactly loved by many of the Atlanta symphony musicians, he has provided a performance that communicates the score almost as well as any of the more revered conductors' efforts. The pacing throughout the orchestra is well-conceived, as it was in his recent recording of the Mahler 4th. Only the last movement seemed somewhat deliberate, but does conclude in rousing fashion literally lifting me out of my seat. Even though you may own many other fine recordings of this work (e.g. Bernstein on DGG, Horenstein, Walter), I wager you will hear more the work than you've heard before, and not just because of the additional movement. Don't delay!"

Comparative Review v. Judd and Boulez

Karl W. Nehring | Ostrander, OH USA | 07/25/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I first decided to compare these two recordings, I thought that choosing between them would be a daunting task. I had always enjoyed the sound and performance of the Judd recording, and kept that CD in my permanent collection; when I heard the new Levi recording, I was also quite impressed with both the sound and the performance. I figured that it was going to be a lot of work to pick a winner from these two. Not so, however.

When you listen to the Judd recording, it sounds warm and natural, and there is a nice sense of sonic perspective. But when you actually sit down and compare it to the Levi, the Judd begins to sound dark, distant, and diffuse. In the opening movement, for example, the lower strings in the Levi provide a solid foundation for the structure of the music, while in the Judd, the lower strings seem a bit muffled and homogenized in sound. As the movement goes on, you become aware that not only does the engineering of the Telarc proved a richer sound than the HM, but that the Atlanta forces, particularly the strings, simply have the Florida forces outgunned.

In the "Blumine" movement, Judd's interpretation seems more dreamlike, while Levi seems to bring more ardor to his interpretation. I should point out here that the HM disk places this movement last, the idea being that because Mahler removed it from the work, they have provided it as a supplement that you can program in if you would like, the "default" program being to hear the four-movement final product. The Telarc disk takes the opposite tack, placing "Blumine" second among the movements, thus making the "default" option to hear the work as a five-movement composition. There are advantages to both approaches. (Personally, I much prefer the work without "Blumine," and will have a bit to say about that later.)

In the third, dance-oriented, movement, Judd's performance comes across as just too smooth. Levi brings more energy to his performance, and once again the superior sound of the lower strings really drive this recording, augmented by the stronger sound of the Atlanta brass.

And so it goes in the final two movements, where the superior bass sound of the Telarc recording and the more powerful Atlanta orchestra give the edge to the Telarc release. Make no mistake, the Harmonia Mundi recording and performance are excellent, but in both respects the Telarc is even better, making it my clear favorite in this comparison.

However, my first recommendation for this work would not be the Telarc, but rather the DG release featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Boulez. The sound quality is comparable to the Telarc, the orchestra plays superbly, and Boulez somehow manages to make the finale sound convincing, something Levi cannot quite manage. What's more, the DG release does not include "Blumine," which in my book is a plus."

An agreeable but not oustanding remembrance of Levi in Atlan

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 11/24/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Yoel Levi suffered the abrupt and ignominious fate of moving from a major recording contract to something like total obscurity. Where is he to be found on the international music scene today? I never quite understood Telarc's faith in him, or why the Atlanta Sym. didn't choose someone less staid and conventional. Maybe they actually preferred middle-of-the-road. They certainly got it in this well-played, gorgeously recorded, but insistently unimaginative Mahler First. The Amazon reviewer lives in fantasy land (or far away from serious music-making) if he thinks that only an underpowered finale causes Levi's reading to fall from the summit of Mahler Firsts. Tell that to Bernstein, Abbado, Bruno Walter, and Rafael Kubelik, all of whom surpass this reading in power, imagination, and authority.

As for the nostalgic 'Blumine' movement, it was correct of Mahler to jettison it from the published score, but its haunting trumpet tune can be effective if played for mystery and longing. Levi's reading, however, is flat-footed and lacking in atmosphere. So unless you are a die-hard Atlanta fan -- I doubt anyone is a die-hard Blumine fan -- this Mahler First can be safely passed up."

Search - Gustav Mahler, Yoel Levi, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra :: Mahler: Symphony No. 1 "Titan"

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