These respectable mono recordings won’t win any awards for orchestral virtuosity, but as always Scherchen’s conceptions reveal a quirky individuality that (at least in this case) never crosses the boundary leading to interpretive meltdown. The First Symphony has a lot going for it: a very fresh sounding opening pair of movements, a marvelously grotesque funeral march (the conductor really is in his element, reveling in Mahler’s bizarre orchestral colors), and a finale that’s simply exciting as hell despite instrumental execution in the fast sections from brass and strings that at times verges on desperation. The even more scrappily played (and less clearly recorded) Adagio from the Tenth typically offers an even more fascinating performance: smooth, trance-like, all in a single tempo, with even the climactic dissonant scream rendered gently, as if heard from a distance, or in a dream. It’s clear that Scherchen loved this strange, decadent, disturbing music, and his conception of it is, in its own way, equally strange and disturbing, as well as unforgettable. Not a first choice perhaps, on account of the playing, but don’t let that prevent you from hearing a valuable reissue that belongs in any serious Mahler collection.
