Another slightly more obscure M1. This time it's the often undervalued combo of the
Ljubljana Symphony Orchestra under Anton Nanut.
This reading opens very slowly, the high strings chord almost 'fading in' rather than being a definite start. The woodwinds and horns which gradually enter as the bars progress are just as they should be and when the 'sunshine breakfast' theme starts, it's delightful and optimistic with audible harp and delicate strings and flutes.
All is quite acceptible until the last few pages when the whole orchestra finally reaches
ff - the horn 'whoops' are really weak and it feels that the whole movement has lost it's impetus somewhere in the quieter meanderings of 3 or four minutes ago...
The second movement bounces in at just the right speed with bright upper strings and lovely 'pinched nose' muted horns, but once again it's the climax of this first section which lets it all down; no accelerando and a lacklustre crescendo to final chord. The second, slower, section of this movement works quite well and, once it gets back to the original theme and heads towards conclusion, this time there's a little more 'oomph' in the orchestra and it feels a bit more satisfactory. So on to movement 3...
The solo double bass is too quiet (
pp rather than
p) as is the bassoon which follows it, but thankfully the whole of the orchestra as each part enters in the minor canon keeps this very quiet dynamic and it's only when the 'gipsy' theme enters that things change. This section works nicely. The next part which opens with the harp reminiscent of the 5th's adagietto yet to come, is gentle but missing something as is the recapitulation of the canon and gipsy theme, until the whole thing sinks back into the steady but slightly too fast, quiet timpani beat with very quiet tam-tam (strain hard and you'll just catch it)...
Kaboom! The orchestra bursts in, but oh dear. This is playing the notes and little else. It's pedestrian, measured, clipped even. Once the noisy stuff dies down, the orchestra seems more relaxed in gentler, quiet section that follows and the quality of playing increases. When the main (triumphant?) theme comes in on that really surprising chord change not long after the 2 loud tam-tam strokes (yes it's there) it almost works but for a really annoying trumpet that seems to have found a microphone all of it's own! This dies down to bring in a recapitulation of the symphonies opening with quiet brass and woodwind flourishes which really are excellent. And that's just about the last time the orchestra plays with anything like a professional sound. The climax and coda are simply awful; plodding, not quite together, almost afraid of the music.
I'm quite a supporter of recordings by less-than-top-notch bands and this recording is part of a set of Mahlers symphonies by Slovenian outfits which includes Nanut and the Ljubljana in much better form in the 8th and Milan Horvaths' rather splendid 'Resurrection' with the Slovenian Philharmonic, about which I shall tell more in February...
