Carlo Maria Giulini - Mahler: Symphony No. 1 - Japan SACD Hybrid Limited Edition

Credits:

Carlo Maria Giulini

Description:

A musical "giant" in the typical Giulini style that brings out the bottom line of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The mastering was done from a musical point of view to improve the sound quality even more than before! Newly reissued from the original analog master tapes. One of the early recordings by Giulini, who was the principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1978, recorded with the orchestra in 1971 by the former EMI. This "Giant," which Giulini interpreted with the precision and extreme musicality that was typical of his established style from that time, has an appealing level of perfection that cannot be obtained from other conductors, including Scholte. Based on the generous sound obtained from the large-displacement Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the performance is further enhanced by the good overall flow and the singing that tugs at the heartstrings. The master was digitized at 192kHz/24bit from the original analog master tapes in the country of origin for this release, and mastered separately for the SACD and CD layers. New commentary is included. This is a permanent preservation disc.Although it is unclear when Giulini, who excelled at Mahler, added this No. 1 to his repertoire, he had already performed No. 9 with the Berlin Philharmonic in the 1960s before this recording (recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and DG in 1976; available on Tower's SACD Hybrid PROC 1973), etc. Although he played only a few pieces, there is no doubt that he played a role in the Mahler boom that came later. In this recording, too, Giulini refines the details after considering the overall structure, and the final result is music with a clear outlook, as is typical of Giulini's style. Giulini has made several recordings with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for EMI since his early days, starting with Brahms' Symphony No. 4, Berlioz and Stravinsky right after his appointment as principal guest conductor, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 (available with Brahms on TDSA 250) the day before this "Titan" recording, followed by Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 (available with the above-mentioned Brahms on TDSA 250) in 1976 and his Symphony No. 7 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1976. The day before this "Giant," he recorded Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 (released with Brahms on TDSA 250), followed by Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 recorded in 1976 and the accompaniment to his concerto, etc.The recording engineer was replaced by C. Parker in the latter period, and the sound quality has changed, but the recordings, which differ from those of DECCA and DG, are all indispensable heritage for fans of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as they show the characteristics of each label well. At the time of this recording of "Giants," DECCA had already recorded Mahler Nos. 5 and 6 with Scholte a year earlier, and about two months after this recording, the Chicago Symphony recorded Mahler No. 7. It is interesting to note that even though the music is different, the same Mahler performance can be interpreted completely differently by different conductors, and thus the way the brass is handled, the melody line, and the overall sound control can be different, but still produce a unique Chicago Symphony Orchestra sound. Of course, different labels have different approaches to recording, so it is difficult to make a blanket statement, but I am amazed at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's ability to adapt. This time, this master recording was digitized and mastered from the original analog master tapes in the home country. We hope you will enjoy the new sound quality and feel the reason why this is a masterpiece again. (1/2)