Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Songs of a Wayfarer (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen)
Blanche Thebom, (mezzo-soprano)
Symphony No. 1 in D major (1888)
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult
rec. 1950, Abbey Road Studio No. 1 (Lieder – mono); 1958, Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London (symphony – stereo)
Pristine Audio PASC763 [62]

I reviewed this recording of the symphony in 2014 in its re-issue on CD by the Everest label and I reproduce here my assessment of its virtues:

“Mahler is not the first composer associated with Sir Adrian Boult but he was quite familiar with the music and one should not be surprised to find him at home with Mahler’s eclectic idiom. Slightly more surprising is the ease and virtuosity shown by the LPO here. Their playing is superb, especially the lovely horns and woodwind, who nail both the notes and the style as if they were as familiar with the music as the VPO. At times, their playing is deliberately slightly raw, so there is no danger of too “English-sounding” a refinement.

This, by any standards, is a swift, direct performance. The next fastest I know is just under fifty minutes from Paul Kletzki with the Israel Philharmonic recorded four years earlier and of much less quality – but that also has cuts in the last movement; Steinberg is very swift, too. Otherwise, the tendency over the years has been to get slower, thus most recordings clock in at around the mid-fifties mark, so Boult is pacy by any standards.

That approach pays dividends in the excitement of this recording but that is not to say that Boult is in any way monotonously driven or negligent of the more reflective sections of the music. The opening, for example, is suitably mystical and otherworldly before relaxing into a genial and even humorous account. He then moves on from his relaxed mode to crank up the tension, driving on to a wonderfully exuberant conclusion.

The Scherzo could have turned out to be manically fast in the wrong hands but its high spirits never spill over into hysteria and Boult makes telling use of dynamic contrasts between sections. He presses on in the famous Forest Funeral March of the Animals, slyly accentuating the dance rhythms. The Finale positively explodes with nervous energy.

This is Boult just getting on with it, providing the antithesis to the reverential, “spiritual” approach to Mahler which does not in fact really suit this deeply ironic symphony. As such, it constitutes a refreshing alternative interpretation.

This is one of a whole series of newly re-mastered re-issues of the famous Everest LP catalogue. Consequently, they are short-measure compared with new recordings but priced accordingly. There is some slight hiss and at first the sound seemed to me to be a little “papery” but otherwise it still sounds terrific. The Walthamstow Assembly Hall provides a big, resonant acoustic without obscuring detail.”

I would also draw your attention to the views expressed by my esteemed colleague Lee Denham in his comprehensive survey of recordings of the symphony – eventually, I believe, to be updated to include the ever-burgeoning catalogue:

“For many reasons, Sir Adrian Boult is regarded as principally an exponent of English music, but his few forays into Mahler also show him to be excellent with this composer too. This First Symphony is no exception and lasting a fraction over 46 minutes you will need to hold onto your hats with this one, for Sir Adrian is in the fast lane here! Throw in a very good Everest recording from 1958 and this is a very worthwhile listen with the LPO on electrifying form, with ensemble much, much better than you would have thought. In the first movement, Boult’s “stiff upper-lip” means there’s no hanging around as the mists rise, but there’s genial good humour here too that’s most affecting. The second movement’s landler is despatched at a pace to test the fittest of dancers, yet this isn’t glib nor slick; instead, it is characterised by rollicking good humour and, at the end especially, real brilliance. There’s no hanging about in the third movement either, Boult clearly not feeling that sympathetic to the Huntsman whose funeral it is, nor in the final one, the central string lament despatched slightly tersely maybe. But there is also tremendous excitement too and the performance generates much white heat in the final pages, with the final bass drum roll astonishingly caught for 1958.”

As you see, LD and I hardly differ and I see no reason to alter my response to its interpretative qualities but obviously my observations in the last paragraph regarding the sound require comparison between it and this new Pristine remastering – and of course, unlike the short-measure Everest issue, we are also given the song cycle, which makes a logical and satisfying pairing, as the works are thematically linked. The Everest sound was always very good for its era and although I concede that this XR Remastering by Andrew Rose reduces the hiss and rounds out the amplitude a little, I cannot say that you need rush to jettison your Everest recording and buy this – unless, that is, you want that pairing with the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen – which, incidentally, wasn’t included in the recently issued mono box set from Warner, perhaps for contractual reasons. It is certainly a fine performance, even if I am used to a more affectionate and indulgent treatment of these songs than Boult is prepared to give it. Thebom was a true Wagnerian singer, rich and ample of tone with a fully developed lower register; most collectors will know her as Brangäne in the famous 1952 recording of Tristan und Isolde conducted by Furtwängler, a piece of casting insisted upon by Flagstad, not only because it was Thebom’s signature role but also because she owed Blanche a favour. She is by no means all heft; she sings with great charm and delicacy in “Ging heut’ Morgen”, her cries of “O Weh” in “Ich hab’ ein glühend Messer” are poignant and she lavishes her dark expressive timbre on “Die zwei blauen Augen”, floating her voice engagingly in the Romantic “Lindenbaum” section. Boult is a sensitive but unsentimental accompanist, bringing out the dark undertones of these songs and they have been remastered by Mark Obert-Thorn very successfully but not in an over-interventionist manner, such that one hardly notices that they are in mono.

Ralph Moore