[USED:Cond.AB] Sym, 1, : Boulez / Cso

This recording was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for "Best Orchestral Performance."
Pierre Boulez continues his Mahler symphony cycle with a First Symphony which will no doubt strike some listeners as cautious or excessively smoothed-out. Although this may be so, Boulez and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra put forth a reading of the Symphony which is technically perfect and has a wonderfully radiant sound. Under Boulez the work may not have the grand dramatic sweep that it does under Jascha Horenstein, but it may be prudent to bear in mind that this is early Mahler and nearly the smallest of the symphonies, not necessarily in need of the same late-Romantic grandeur of the later symphonies.
This is, overall, a fine and highly recommendable performance. The orchestral playing is excellent, and Boulez' take on the Symphony is certainly valid and compelling. The Chicago brass are at their usual best. The only real complaint is that the disc is less than full at just under 53 minutes--short for a full-price disc. A must for Mahlerians and Boulez fans nonetheless.