Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major "Titan" (Hamburg-Weimar 1893-94 Version) [Live]

Forget the Mahler First you know and travel back to the work’s second incarnation. This is Titan, a five-movement symphonic poem with a very definite programme, which Mahler later dropped: a man’s heroic but ultimately fruitless battle with fate. Playing mainly Austro-German instruments appropriate to the period, Les Siècles make a compelling case for this precursor of Symphony No. 1. Beautifully judged, vividly characterised and with a gorgeous range of colours—the later-discarded second movement, “Blumine”, is heavenly—this is another triumph for conductor François-Xavier Roth.