Angela Hewitt LOVE SONGS

 

LOVE SONGS

 

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra / Long Yu GUSTAV MAHLER - XIAOGANG YE The Song of the Earth

 

THE SONG OF THE EARTH

 

Zlata Chochieva (RE)CREATIONS

 

(RE)CREATIONS

Orchestre Victor Hugo / Jean-François Verdier GUSTAV MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde

 

DAS LIED VON DER ERDE

Orchestre National de Lille / Alexandre Bloch MAHLER Symphony No. 7

 

SYMPHONY No. 7

 

Katarina Karnéus / Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra / Susanna Mälkki MAHLER Kindertotenlieder • Rückert-Lieder • Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen

MAHLER

 

Christiane Karg / Malcolm Martineau ERINNERUNG

ERINNERUNG

 

Lucile Richardot / Yves Saelens / Het Collectief / Reinbert de Leeuw MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde

DAS LIED VON DER ERDE

 

Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde

DAS LIED VON DER ERDE

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Vladimir Jurowski MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde

DAS LIED VON DER ERDE

voces8 AFTER SILENCE III. REDEMPTION

AFTER SILENCE III. REDEMPTION

Alban Berg Ensemble Wien ALBAN BERG ENSEMBLE WIEN

ALBAN BERG ENSEMBLE WIEN

Emmanuel Pahud / Paul Meyer / Daishin Kashimoto / Zvi Plesser / Éric Le Sage VIENNE 1900

VIENNE 1900

Anna Prohaska / Julius Drake PARADISE LOST

                                                                PARADISE LOST

Philadelphia Orchestra / Yannick Nézet-Séguin GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 8

                                                               SYMPHONY NO. 8

Ruby Hughes / BBC National Orchestra of Wales / Jac van Steen CLYTEMNESTRA

                                                                 CLYTEMNESTRA

Düsseldorfer Symphoniker / Adam Fischer MAHLER Symphony No. 8

Mahler’s Eighth is a special challenge for all participants: in rehearsals, in performance, and, of course, when making a recording. The challenge lies in freeing the music from all of the technical and logistical problems that come with it. Whenever new possibilities emerged in music history (such as new musical instruments), composers tended to introduce the novelty quite frequently in the first phase to show its potential. A good example was the Mannheim School in the 1700s.

The crescendo had just been invented: musicians no longer had to play dynamics in “terraced levels”. Mannheim pieces from that period are thus brimming with crescendos: musicians reveled in the new possibilities. Mahler, later on, wanted to explore the possibilities of an orchestra of unprecedented size, particularly in the Eighth. The effects made possible by such an enlargement should not become an end in themselves. That is the special challenge we have faced. If on this recording we have over 500 people singing and playing together, that is only a means, not an end...

Minnesota Orchestra / Osmo Vänskä MAHLER 1

The shimmering string harmonics at the opening of Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony bring to mind the suspended breath of spring, and will have signalled even to the very first audiences that a new symphonic era was being ushered in. Soon enough the composer introduces some of the elements that would become key components of his musical language: sounds of nature (here cuckoo calls) are combined with quasi-militaristic fanfares and ‘high-art’ chromatic wanderings in cellos, as if to illustrate Mahler’s view of the symphony as an all-embracing art form. The symphony, which the composer originally gave the subtitle ‘Titan’, borrows extensively from the song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. But Mahler also incorporates elements of Moravian popular music (in the second movement) and – in the slow third movement – famously quotes a minor-mode version of the children’s rhyme Bruder Martin (also known as Frere Jacques). The finale transports the listener to a world of Gothic theatricality reminiscent of Grand Opera, before arriving – after a number of false starts – at the symphony’s heroic chorale-like ending.

Stuttgarter Philharmoniker / Gabriel Feltz GUSTAV MAHLER Sinfonie Nr. 2

Gabriel Feltz and the Stuttgart Philharmonic have previously recorded six of Gustav Mahler's symphonies for Dreyer-Gaido, suggesting the eventual issue of a complete cycle. This 2019 release of the Symphony No. 2 in C minor ("Resurrection"), is likely to be a highlight of such a set, because Feltz and his musicians have taken great pains to bring the score to life while also observing its finest details, particularly in articulation and dynamics, which is no mean feat. Feltz favors brisk tempos, particularly in the violent first movement and the sardonic Scherzo, creating moments of apocalyptic terror that perfectly balance with the quietly elegant Andante moderato, the sublime Wunderhorn song for mezzo-soprano, "Urlicht," and the expansive finale with its choral setting of lines from Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock's ode, Die Auferstehung. To call this symphony a long stretch is perhaps the simplest way to describe it, and only the most dedicated conductors can make it hold together over the course of its 90-plus minutes. Feltz takes into account the underlying unity of the work and lets it tell its story of a hero's death and funeral rites, memories of his life, and his ultimate resurrection on Judgment Day. On its face, the symphony is musically quite eclectic and varied in styles, yet this performance brings it together as a whole, so the trajectory is clear and concentrated, unlike some older traditional performances that draw the mystical second half out too long and deprive it of its drama. Dreyer-Gaido has split the symphony evenly over two discs, so Mahler's intended break between the first and second movements is a casualty, though sticklers for historical accuracy can still hit the pause button. Highly recommended. (Blair Sanderson)

Bamberger Symphoniker / Herbert Blomstedt MAHLER IX

For Gustav Mahler, composing his early symphonies meant „building a world”. His Ninth, however, seems more concerned with the deconstruction of this world – a look back, a long farewell. In the draft of his score, he noted words like „O youth! Vanished! O love! Blown away!“. In 1909, his idyllic world was destroyed, having been diagnosed with a heart valve defect two years earlier – a disease that would ultimately lead to his death.

While his last completed symphony still contains some folksy elements, Mahler composed a heartbreaking Adagio as its Finale. Herbert Blomstedt, honorary conductor of the
Bamberger Symphoniker, guides the orchestra through this rollercoaster of emotions, ranging between deep sadness, comfort and melancholia. This exceptional recording is the first CD release with the Bamberger Symphoniker and their honorary conductor Herbert Blomstedt!