Mahler Symphony No 6

Adam Fischer writes: In the Düsseldorf Tonhalle in late February and early March 2020, we gave Mahler’s Sixth Symphony in three live concert performances which we recorded for this album. This date in the calendar had special significance: the first lockdown period due to the Corona pandemic set in immediately thereafter. The orchestra was playing in full line-up in front of a full house for the last time for a long while. The mood was ominous: we all felt something was amiss, and the next day everything had to be cancelled. We strongly associate those circumstances with our work on the Sixth, and with the foreboding we felt of a catastrophe that has since ruined the livelihoods of many musician colleagues and deprived us all of a meaningful period in our lives.

David Zinman's recording of Mahler's Sixth Symphony, with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, is magnificent: dramatic, dynamic, heroic, and tragic. In the wake of many versions that are excessively emotional and hyperactive, Zinman's reading is refreshingly sane and lucid. Zinman has turned in great Beethoven and Schumann cycles with the Tonhalle Orchestra, and so far, his Mahler cycle seems set on the same trajectory. His Sixth avoids the extremes of heaviness and lightness; the tempos do not drag, the textures are rich but they do not clot, and the colors are beguiling without delaying forward motion.

"Among Simon Rattle's first concert programmes as the new chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was Gustav Mahler's Sixth Symphony. The performances marked the beginning of a new chapter in Mahler interpretation, for Rattle, like his predecessors Jansons, Maazel and Kubelík, is an ardent admirer of the composer. BR-KLASSIK has now released the live recording of the concerts. Gustav Mahler's Sixth Symphony is perhaps the darkest work he ever wrote – its nickname is “The Tragic”.

Controversy has surrounded Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6 in A minor, "Tragic," ever since he reversed the order of the inner movements, from what he originally published as Scherzo/Andante, to Andante/Scherzo, which became his actual practice. Whether one favors the former or the latter ordering may be a moot point, with a century of recordings of both versions indicating the general acceptance by audiences in either form. Paavo Järvi and the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo use the originally published sequence, also adopted by the 1963 critical edition, and deliver the symphony with high energy and force, reflecting the driven march of the opening Allegro energico.

"The audience knows that the performance of a Mahler symphony is not only a musical experience, but is also emotionally effective" (R. Chailly). This counts especially for Mahler's enigmatic sixth symphony, an emotionally stirring challenge for both performers and listeners, whilst also being one of the most impressive works in musical history. Chailly's interpretation with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is "intensely great" (Die Presse). "Chailly uncompromisingly considers this sixth symphony through the lens of modernity; looking forward, not retrospectively staying in 'late romantic'. In this celebrated orchestra, all sections splendidly come together and fulfil an 'open' sound, conserving whilst respecting its original beauty." (Salzburger Nachrichten)

Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia performed Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6 in A minor, "Tragic," in concerts to mark the 100th anniversary of the composer's death, and this 2011 EMI Classics release captures the excitement and amazing precision of the playing. While this might seem like a fairly leisurely run through the symphony, with a timing of just over 1 hour 24 minutes and requiring two discs to hold it, Pappano keeps the energy and interest levels elevated throughout, and despite taking tempos that would be momentum-killers in less skillful hands, he gives the music urgency when it most needs it.

Mahler’s Sixth Symphony features both contrast and controversy. While it’s his darkest, he composed it at high point in his life. Conductors often quarrel over the correct order of the movements…