MAHLER: Symphonic Poem in Two Parts “Titan” (Hamburg Version (1893) of the First Symphony) – Netherlands Symphony Orchestra/ Jan Willem de Vriend, conductor – Challenge Classics multichannel SACD 72355, 56:26 [Distr. by Allegro] ***1/2:
I am going to direct you here for a review I did in 2008 of this same work to get background information. Mahler’s early effort was begun in the late 1880s and finally completed in 1893 in a revised form—the first performance was a disaster. The famous “Blumine” movement was discarded by the composer by the time the work was published in 1899, and there is no evidence that the movement ever appeared in any final score (and in fact appeared again publicly at the Aldeburgh Festival, thanks to Benjamin Britten), so those few recordings trying to “restore” the piece are in fact changing Mahler’s design for the First Symphony. Mahler did not think the movement symphonic enough.
Those thinking that they will fall in love with the composer’s first thoughts are in for a disappointment—the tidying up of the piece and orchestration changes did nothing but improve the work substantially, from structure to sound. I confess that I find it difficult to return to a programmatic content for this piece in its tone poem construction after being so familiar with the ultimate Symphony No. 1. It’s just hard to go back—in some cases a composer’s first thoughts are the best, but that occurs rarely. This is still enjoyable, but for me only in the context of historical association—I would never for a moment trade it for the final product, and I doubt you would either.
This is not a bad performance at all, the orchestra and sound being much better than the cited review above, where the sound was pretty miserable. Yet even here there is too much boom in the all-pervading timpani, and the orchestra sounds receded enough that some definition and detail is lost, while impact is lessened. The orchestra plays excellently, not quite top rank, but easily and with fluidity. There are not a lot of recordings of this version, and having one in Super Audio is definitely a boon because of the good sonic spread. Recommended with the caveat that this version is not a substitute for the real thing.
— Steven Ritter
