Mahler 2

Mahler 2 is the second album from Philharmonia Records; following their first album - Santtu conducts Strauss. “[Also sprach Zarathustra] Rouvali’s conducting of both is certainly interesting and personal… impressive; an expansive reading that sees the work whole…[An Alpine Symphony] undeniably picturesque; vivid and dramatically projected…top-notch playing; and this extravagant score also enjoys notable recorded sound… lingering lyricism; invariably heartfelt and; in conclusion; cathartic”; Founded in 1945; The Philharmonia Orchestra creates thrilling performances for a global audience and has premiered works by Richard Strauss; Sir Peter Maxwell Davies; Errollyn Wallen; Kaija Saariaho and many others.

The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and their Music Director Riccardo Chailly have already acquired legendary status – glorious reviews and many awards for their recordings testifying to their continuing success. At Leipzig’s International Mahler Festival, to mark the centenary of Mahler’s death, they performed his monumental Second Symphony in the Gewandhaus – together with two marvellous soloists and choral forces quite beyond compare. About the final movement the composer said: “The increasing tension, working up to the final climax, is so tremendous that I don’t know myself, now that it is over, how I ever came to write it.”

This recording of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is an event, because it was made with period instruments of the kind the composer used in Vienna. The Mahler Academy Orchestra set itself the task of reconstructing this instrumentarium and researching how musicians of the time played it: ‘We were struck during our rehearsals by the incredibly distinctive characterisation of the woodwinds, the shattering blare of the brass, the perfect balance between the instruments, and the pure and warm sound of the strings…

Gustav & Alma Mahler / Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Lieder
Angelika Kirschschlager / Helmut Deutsch, piano
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 257 MB | Full Artwork: 161 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Sony Classical # SK 68344 | Country/Year: Germany 1996
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Early 20th Century, Vocal, Lied

"…[The Korngold] songs are quite wonderful, and we listeners should be grateful for Kirchschlager's persuasive advocacy….Pianist Helmut Deutsch is several notches above most accompanists, with his consideration of the soloist and his expressive nuances…" ~American Record Guide

This recording of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is an event, because it was made with period instruments of the kind the composer used in Vienna. The Mahler Academy Orchestra set itself the task of reconstructing this instrumentarium and researching how musicians of the time played it: ‘We were struck during our rehearsals by the incredibly distinctive characterisation of the woodwinds, the shattering blare of the brass, the perfect balance between the instruments, and the pure and warm sound of the strings…