Before talking further about the music I must immediately congratulate Tim Handley on his fine recording. It’s smooth and clear without being bright and it’s set back in a believable acoustic. At no point does it tire the ear and the tonal depth is just right with the brass having presence without dominating proceedings. For a live recording the absence of audience noise is remarkable. Most importantly the string tone is full and sweet.

Moving onto the general style of the music-making, the string sound that Mr. Handley has captured is crucial because Marin Alsop gives us an interpretation that showcases the strings rather than blowing us away with loud percussion and raucous untamed brass. It’s just about the most gentle, romantic and beguiling Mahler 1 I’ve ever come across. With Alsop there are no histrionics and the playing is as smooth as silk. It’s a really unusual, different approach and it’s delightful to hear. The orchestra is in spectacular form.

The intense atmosphere is set immediately at the opening of the first movement with woodwind, violin harmonics and horns in perfect proportion. The passage that runs from 8:00 to 11:00 is as eerie as anyone could wish. The music hovers in stasis—Havergal Brian-like, of all things!—as woodwinds, harp and cellos search for a resolution. The bass drum is as menacing as you could ever imagine and its deep, subtle thump is very realistic without the need for any artificial boosting. This is spine-tingling, hushed playing of the first order. Once the resolution arrives the music moves on to a controlled climax. The second movement In Full Sail doesn’t set off in full sail at all. Instead we are treated to a heavy-footed Klemperer-like ländler with a relaxed, lilting central section beautifully delivered, especially by the string section. It’s an unusual approach but rather compelling…At the opening of Mahler’s third movement the Frère Jacques theme is given by what sounds like the double bass section rather than by a single double bass…the strings really shine and Marin Alsop relishes those schmaltzy moments, pulling the phrasing of the music around in a musical and loving way. The pianissimo passages really tell and add electricity to the interpretation. In the finale the brass section is finally given its opportunity to step forward and they really deliver the goods. The trumpets, tuba, braying horns and tam-tam are thrilling in their impact. There is no distracting applause at the end of the symphony, thank goodness, and this allows for a few seconds thought before realising what a cracking performmore....

The interpretation gives appropriate weight to the outer movements. There’s a fine presentation of the atmospheric sounds in Mahler’s introduction and a seamless move to the first theme…Alsop is faithful to the dynamic levels of the score and this is complemented by the intensity she gives to the passages that contain sustained sonorities. This gives the first movement a sense of momentum, which leads well to its climax. Along the way, Alsop clearly articulates the sections of the development section which is distinctive from the recapitulation. The coda caps the work elegantly.

Fresh and vibrant, this recording of Mahler’s First Symphony is appealing as a persuasive reading of this familiar work.

The audio quality of this recording merits attention for the way it conveys the sound warmly. As much as the release is based on live performances, audience noise and hall sounds are minimal and mainly inaudible. However the intensity of the performance of the Finale deserves the applause the audience would naturally have offered at the conclusion. This recording has much to commend it to Mahlerians everywhere. © 2012 MusicWeb International Read complete review

Through it all, the Baltimore Symphony plays very well, especially given the fact that this is a live recording. © 2012 ClassicsToday.com Read complete review

The other thing you notice about Alsop’s account of this work is her spontaneous embrace of its lyricism. Seldom had any composer used vocal-like lyricism as the wellspring of a symphony the way Mahler does here, and that goes beyond the obvious fact that he pulled the melodies of several songs from his cycles…to give the first two movements an immediate appeal for the listener. The most notable use of dance music occurs, appropriately, in the scherzo movement, in the form of an Austrian dance, the Ländler, the gracefully gliding contrasted middle section of which Alsop keeps moving steadily and purposefully along, just a little ahead of the beat so that it seems effortless. © 2012 Audio Video Club of Atlanta Read complete review

Alsop’s A Major Scherzo, swaggering and explosive, speaks more authentically, the brass and tympani jarring the sensibilities with a Beethoven menace, while the strings and winds invoke folk and klezmer sensibilities into the fertile mix. The lilting trio section assumes the most Viennese pose Alsop achieves in this performance, the combination of Schubert and sentimental parody quite effective. Calls from the first movement, from the discarded Blumine movement, and from the mortal storms that would wrack Mahler in the course of his creative life, converge most powerfully; and by the last resounding chords, even the most skeptical of Alsop’s auditors should be convinced that Mahler suits her own multifaceted temperament. © 2012 Audiophile Audition Read complete review