Mahler: Symphony No. 1 (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/ Marin Alsop) (Naxos: 8.572207)
Shipping time: Usually ships within 1-3 days
This remarkably original work, with its recurring quotations from the composer's own songs, notably
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) and
Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy's Magic Horn), is the perfect expression of one of Mahler's most quoted sayings,
"The symphony is a world; it must contain everything". The opening movement, filled with sounds that Mahler remembered from his childhood, depicts
"Nature's awakening from the long sleep of winter", and is followed by an exuberant scherzo and trio based on a Landler. The disturbing slow movement funeral march, based on the children's song
Frere Jacques, is unlike anything that had been heard before, and the symphony concludes with music of thrilling dramatic intensity.
Marin Alsop has been Music Director of the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2007, a relationship now extended to 2015. Currently Conductor Emeritus of the
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Laureate of the
Colorado Symphony Orchestra, since 1992 she has also been Music Director of California's prize-winning Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.