Lucerne Festival Orchestra (Mahler: Symphony 1 / Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3)

When I am in a relaxed and expansive mood, my first choice of Mahler's 1st is that of the Chicago Symphony and Tennstedt. It is slow, expressive and builds up powerfully to an impressive release at the climax. The section alluding to the funeral march is completely idiomatic to my ears and evocative of the mystic Romanticism on which this symphony is broadly based. Not for nothing has Tennstedt earned his credentials as a peerless Mahlerian. But at other times I do wish for a slight upping of tempo and more brio. After all this was the work of the composer in his zestful youth.And now here comes Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and after the first listen, you know this will be the first preference for many, many people who love the 'Titan'. Fresh as a zephyr, it zips along at just the right tempo, nuance and emotion and with superlative playing from his hand-picked Orchestra, Abbado has a winner.The slow movement is stirring, the 'storm' passage ripping and the conductor whips up the whole of his forces to an rousing finale. Yes, the youthful Mahler, the impetuous Mahler at last. Sir Simon Rattle will be conducting Mahler's 1st with the Berlin Philharmonic in Singapore on 24th November (I'll be there and can't wait to witness his take on the symphony...will he out-Abbado Abbado ?)As for the Prokofiev 3rd Piano Concerto, the other work on this disc, I will stick out my neck and say that you have never heard it played this way, this fast.Yes, typhoon Yuja Wang is at the keyboards and sends the Lucerne Orchestra scurrying after her in arguably one of the most exciting piano concerto playing I have ever heard live or in a recording ! Abbado manages to keep all under control, but only just I would say. Dazzling speed and technical wizardry would be of just passing interest if only that, but the young pianist also impresses with her musical interpretation. Frankly the audience was left non-plussed at least for the first half a minute after her final flourish judging by the polite applause but soon it dawned on them that they have indeed heard something extraordinary and the ovation thundered.A wonderful concert disc. Buy it for the Mahler, buy it for the extraordinary Prokofiev.....this is just 5 star performance all the way !Postscript: Sir Simon Rattle's live performance in Singapore on 24 November 2010 exceeded all my high expectations. The BPO was in top form. Mahler's Titan was expressive and expansive when it needed to be and youthful, gripping and spirited when appropriate Stunning, just stunning. And the good news is that it was filmed in 3D for future DVD release. So if the sound and video engineers don't slip up ( like they did with the Blu ray for Abbado's Mahler 2nd Symphony), who knows months from now we may have a fantastic 3D version of Mahlers First. Intriguing ??

This DVD hardly requires a review: fans who count the seconds until the next Abbado/Lucerne Mahler release will hardly need any impetus to acquire this extraordinary release.This is the most amazing performance of Mahler 1 I have ever heard. For many, many years, my favorite has been the Tennstedt EMI recording from 1991 (from live performances with the Chicago Symphony in May and June of 1990). This performance, to my amazement, surpasses even that sublime recording. Abbado holds this performance on edge until the very end: the multitudes of motives and gestures that appear in the first movement are given an extraordinary life and presence; later, they are heard in a beautiful and moving apotheosis in the last movement, which climaxes like nothing I've ever heard before. I don't know of another performance which has so movingly connected this work's beginning to its end. Abbado knows and feels Mahler in such profound, life-changing ways; it seems almost trite to try to find ways to describe the depth of his expression. I'm not surprised that he saved the First Symphony for performance near the end of his Lucerne Mahler cycle, and I'm incredibly grateful for this performance.Fans of previous Abbado/Lucerne Mahler releases will note some changes in the principal chairs in the orchestra: gone is Kolja Blacher, Albrecht Mayer, and Sabine Meyer, among others. The orchestra does not suffer; indeed, they play with an intense sense of ensemble, and the camera catches many occasions during which players smile and nod at each other. As always, these players realize they are part of something extraordinarily special (witness the hugs and kisses stand partners and principals bestow on each other long into the audience's ovation--a wonderful European tradition that I see only occasionally in American orchestras). Mahler 1 fans will delight in seeing the horns stand in the final minutes (as Mahler instructs), and all will delight in seeing (for the first time, if I'm not mistaken, in any previous Lucerne release) Abbado coming out for a solo bow (to exuberant fans who were probably clapping and cheering for half an hour!) long after the orchestra has left the stage (another truly European experience for American viewers who have never witnessed anything like it).All in all, an extraordinary addition to the already overwhelmingly beautiful Abbado/Lucerne Mahler collection.

I just watched this performance for the fourth time since I bought it the week it came out, and being a true "Abbado junkie", a Mahler addict, and passionate follower of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, I had to add my overly emotional opinion.Each time I watch it, I'm utterly astonished at the energy and brilliance of the those exceptional players - and to see how Claudio the artist, sculpts the music, as if Mahler's spirit grips and injects him with a transcendental energy. Somehow, without the baton, one can see his manner of forming the invisible "prima materia" of pure sound into Mahler's shapes and colours.This DVD, as with every other that EuroArts creates, is pure gold, and you reviewers have expressed it better than I can. (Scott Morrison, whoever you are, I read all your reviews and love you!) I've actually heard a few Mahlerites say that the First Symphony isn't their favourite. I shriek: Listen and watch again - the Abbado version!This truly beloved and cherished conductor, together with his devoted musicians, has given us the most spiritual of gifts - and you can see why the maestro says, after recovering from cancer, "Music was the medicine that saved me".When he collapsed with fatigue earlier this year, we can understand why. After watching him conduct Mahler's Ninth live on Arte TV, a truly memorable, heart-wrenching performance, I see that he may have learnt to conserve his super-charged approach so that he can be with us, weaving the same magic, for many more years.How happy Gustav would be!