After listening to the very broad and, ultimate calm of the first movement, I wondered too myself if the Czech Republic had legalized cannabis. This has to be the most calm, relaxed playing of this work on record. It seems that almost all the accents in the tutti woodwind sections have zero bite. Ignoring almost all the accents. Everything is nicely separated, but it lacks any sort of character. Where is my horn trill!
Chris I think you put into words what I was trying to say much better than I did. It was mainly the first movement that was "boring" (Mahler "boring" is different than literal boring), but the finale was a bit flat for me too. There have been longer first movements (Honeck, Chailly I think), but if it's going to be over 16.5 minutes there has to be a lot of nuance to keep things interesting. At least the Czech Phil plays beautifully, but the simple beauty of the playing isn't enough to keep me engaged. It
should be sounding like the Budapest Festival Orchestra; the strings have the ability to play that good, but if there's so little character then what's the point of conducting it so slowly? I got hints of this from their very deliberate finale of the Fifth, almost à la Barbirolli, but that movement is fun enough to keep me engaged on its own.
So far Bychkov's tempos have been an unpredictable mix: a very slow M1.I but average-paced following movements, slower than average M2 overall, "faster"
Adagietto but deliberate M5 finale, average paced M4. I can't predict what his tempos might be for the remaining works, besides what we know from his past M3 and M6. Another recent cycle with tempos this unpredictable are Nott's.
I'm also still hung up on that damn piccolo being so loud in the finale, but I shouldn't lose the forest for the trees.
The middle movements I liked. More character and atmosphere in these.
You're absolutely right: I do think the inner movements were excellent, especially the third movement. It's honestly one of the finest I can think of and I should be giving it more credit.
On the other hand, this may be the best recorded M1 to grace my speakers. Hell, these may be the best recorded and engineered Mahler cycle I've yet heard. The solo bass opening the 3rd movement has never been captured better. The timpani, and all the subtle rolls and dynamics have never sounded as good. Los of good tuba! The texture and color in the paring of the woodwinds speaks so well. The aim of these recordings seems to be clarity and transparency for study, because everything is laid bare.
I must not be hearing it with the right sound setup, but I'll trust you that it has exceptional sound quality. I'll retract what I said about the engineering since I don't have a fair way to judge it professionally.
