Recorded in October 2021 in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum in Prague, this fine account of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 by the Czech Philharmonic under Semyon Bychkov is more than worthy to sit alongside their acclaimed recordings of the composer’s Second, Fourth and Fifth symphonies. It also brings us another step closer to their complete recording of Mahler’s symphonies for Pentatone.

The sense of mystery opening out into a teeming plenitude is, in the first movement, aided by the distinctiveness of the Czech’s string sound, luminous yet with a bloom more burr than halo, the richness of the brass and the characterful winds. And the finely judged contrasts between imitations of the sounds of the natural world and song quotations. All are captured by the beautifully detailed yet spacious recording.

Bychkov elicits an earthy, foot-stomping rusticity from the orchestra in the following scherzo, while the graceful trio with its sighing strings and flirtatious oboe and clarinet ushers in a Viennese sophistication that is yet again underscored by some ravishing string playing. Bringing the rustics back, the players inject even more...