James Levine, London Symphony Orchestra: Mahler Symphony No. 1 (out-of-print)

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James Levine, London Symphony Orchestra: Mahler Symphony No. 1 (out-of-print)

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James Levine is a force to reckon with in the Mahler 1st Symphony, and the LSO support him with really virtuoso playing. His approach to Mahler, apparently, is to emphasise the enormous contrasts, especially those between fast and slow tempi. The first movement's slow introduction is as slow as may be - and rightly so, since for once its dreamy atmosphere is realised to perfection; the first movement proper begins "very comfortably", as marked by Mahler, and then increases in speed to a very fast tempo indeed. Mahler only asked for "a lively, animated tempo", and one might argue that Levine exaggerates; however, he achieves such clear phrasing at top speed, and the result is so tremendously exciting, that criticism is disarmed. Again, in the second movement, the Landler (marked "forcefully") is taken quite fast, and the Trio very much slower. Mahler's marking for the Trio, "Really comfortably, rather slower than at the beginning" (my italics), suggests a pretty steady tempo for the Landler, and again, one wonders whether Levine is not overdoing it. However, the Landler has such tremendous weight at its quick speed, and the Trio is so beautifully phrased, that one is more than prepared to accept the result. Well recorded with RCA's typically realism in miking and soundstage.