I find Mahler a difficult composer to understand, but am gradually getting more familiar with his symphonies. A week ago, I got my first Mahler cycle-- the DG Kubelik one-- and have listened to the first and second symphonies. The first is excellent; the second is good but lacks a certain "epicness."
Kubelik is more focused on sounding beautiful than emphasizing Mahler's neuroticism, at least in the first two symphonies. He also takes fairly quick tempos-- the upshot of that is that all the symphonies fit on one CD, except for the third.
Kubelik is more focused on sounding beautiful than emphasizing Mahler's neuroticism, at least in the first two symphonies. He also takes fairly quick tempos-- the upshot of that is that all the symphonies fit on one CD, except for the third.
