Absolutely top notch! Macal conducts with tempos that are flowing, but perfectly controlled. The famous Czech winds bring out all of the colours in the music, and the brass are glorious. This is also one of the best and most natural-sounding multi-channel SACD's I've heard to date.
The opening movement has all of the proper gravitas at 22 or so minutes. The timings of the middle three movements are very similar to the MTT/SFSO. However, Macal is much more musical sounding in the first nachtmusik. The scherzo is of the slower, perhaps brooding variety. The second nachtmusik has very prominent guitar and mandolin. My preference is for a slightly faster tempo here, but this is well within reason. My only minor complaints relate to the final movement. The solo violin is a little too closely miked and comes off as a bit edgy. The timpani sound rather recessed at two different stages – a section near the opening and again playing the same section near the ending. This may very well have been a conscious decision, since the timpani are well represented at all other sections. I also would have liked the bells to be more prominent at the coda. However, they are still prominent enough to be heard – unlike in the MTT/SFSO. I noticed in both of the last two movements that Macal has a very unique way with the tension and release of the music throughout (i.e. very different from that of other M7 conductors). It all works very well to my ears, instead of sounding like some strange affectation a la the MTT/SFSO performance.
So at least after my initial complete listening session, I would place this in my first tier of favorite M7’s, along with Lennie (any of his three, but I especially like his DG one), Abbado (also, any of his three), Tennstedt/LPO (live only), MTT/LSO, Levine/CSO, all off the top of my head. Oh yeah, I like the Rattle M7 too.
I really need to type some full comments on the Macal/Czech PO M5 and M6. I’ll try to do this in another thread. To summarize, the M6 is very good. It has quick tempos in the first two movements (btw S-A order), but they are not too fast for my taste. The andante has a great flow and is thankfully NOT played like an Adagio. The finale is weighty and features tremendous playing by the Czech PO.
As for the M5, I have only listened to the first three movements. It does not come off near as well as the M4, M6, or M7. It is very rhythmically stiff to my ears. I am told that the M5 was Macal's first Mahler concert with the Czech PO, so that may explain the strange variance in conducting (i.e. none of the others come off as "stiff").
