Paavo Jarvi and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich present the second volume of their complete Mahler Symphonies, with his First Symphony, known as the "Titan" in reference to the eponymous novel by the poet Jean-Paul that Mahler greatly admired. Although he abandoned this title three years after the symphony's premiere in 1893, the symphony has, like many of Mahler's works, "a clearly programmatic character" according to Paavo Jarvi: "Mahler was a composer who was truly able to explore the inner world of human beings and to question what goes on inside us."

Paavo Jarvi and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich present the second volume of their complete Mahler Symphonies, with his First Symphony, known as the "Titan" in reference to the eponymous novel by the poet Jean-Paul that Mahler greatly admired. Although he abandoned this title three years after the symphony's premiere in 1893, the symphony has, like many of Mahler's works, "a clearly programmatic character" according to Paavo Jarvi: "Mahler was a composer who was truly able to explore the inner world of human beings and to question what goes on inside us."

This release captures the January 2025 concert from Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. Rapturously received by the capacity audience and acclaimed by the critics, the Halle's performance of this monumental work marks a significant milestone in Kahchun Wong's tenure as Principal Conductor. Thought of as being the composer's most ambitious search for the meaning of life, the Second Symphony is conceived and delivered on an epic scale, featuring soloists, choir and an enlarged orchestra. The music offers a directness of expression which transports the listener through a series of climaxes and reflections, culminating in a Last Judgement in which the composer said, 'an overwhelming love illuminates our being'. The release is accompanied by a personal introduction from Kahchun Wong, reflecting on what the music of Mahler means to him, and a programme note by Mahler expert, composer David Matthews.

Reference Recordings presents our second collaboration with the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra, in a spectacular live recording of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5. This is the composition that inspired legendary classical producer Vic Muenzer's career in music. About this new album Mr. Muenzer writes: "Once again, we bring you the dream team of the beautiful acoustics of Walk Festival Hall, the unparalleled musicians of the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, and the unrivaled present-day Mahlerian conductor, Sir Donald Runnicles."

The Vienna live recording from 1948 not only captures a performance of superlatives, but also a moment of historical and emotional significance. The war-torn city became the setting for an artistic statement of hope and renewal. Walter's conducting and the excellent performers make this performance a definitive interpretation of Mahler's vision.

SYMPHONY NO. 5

SYMPHONY NO. 5

MAHLER: Symphony No. 2 / Kindertotenlieder (Fried) (1915-19

Classical Music

Classical Music

Each of these little rural dramas – be it a parable of fishy hypocrisy or a tale of starvation – is newly reanimated in Waltraud Meier’s word-bright singing.

Würzburg-born Waltraud Meier doubtless has a drop or two of the waters of the Neckar and the Rhine running through her veins: it certainly sounds like it in the robust, bucolic lilt of her voice in ‘Rheinlegendchen’, one of four settings here from Mahler’s favourite folk collection, Des Knaben Wunderhorn. It’s an apparently simple song, but deceptively tricky to bring off; and Meier, vividly offset by the gently ingratiating strings of the Bavarian RSO under Lorin Maazel, does so to a nicety. Indeed, each of these little rural dramas – be it a parable of fishy hypocrisy or a tale of starvation – is newly reanimated in Meier’s word-bright singing.

It is the vigorously communicative enunciation of this Wagner mezzo turned dramatic soprano which makes her Rückert Songs and her Kindertotenlieder so powerful, too. ‘Liebst du um Schönheit’, Mahler’s most private song for his young wife, Alma, is brought impetuously into the public domain. And the BRSO’s pungent woodwind soloists work their own potent chemistry with the flaring light at the top of Meier’s voice in ‘Um Mitternacht’.

Maazel knows just when to urge his players on to support the momentum of Meier’s singing in a Kindertotenlieder which explores every register of her voice. Janet Baker’s Kindertotenlieder and Rückert Lieder with the Hallé and Barbirolli (EMI) has a unique Classical beauty and sobriety; Christa Ludwig’s pairing, with the Berlin PO and Karajan, a Central European pungency all its own. But my benchmark remains Brigitte Fassbaender’s outstandingly compelling performances, raw and instinctive, with the Deutsches SO and Chailly, which also include the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.

Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5)

-- Hilary Finch, BBC Music Magazine

THE VOICES OF LIVING STEREO VO

'The Fifth is a cursed piece. Nobody understands it,' said Gustav Mahler in March 1905 after a performance of his Fifth Symphony in Hamburg. He had been working on his new symphony for almost three years before it premiered on 18 October 1904: in Cologne, with the Gurzenich Orchestra and Gustav Mahler at the podium. To many of his contemporaries, the work seemed too bold, too radical - perhaps also insufficiently explained, given that programmatic explanations had been added to the so-called 'Wunderhorn' Symphonies Nos. 2 to 4. Not only the number and the order of the movements seemed new, but stylistically Mahler also broke new ground with his Fifth. But now, all at once, his musical language changed, a transformation that evidently gave him some unease later. Shortly before his death, he made corrections to the instrumentation. Today the work is considered the beginning of his new creative phase, which culminated in his Ninth Symphony and it's one of his most popular symphonies. Gary Bertini was born in Bessarabia (now Moldova) in 1927. After the Second World War, he studied at the Milan Conservatory, then at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music (where he graduated in 1951), and finally at the Paris Conservatory and the ecole Normale de Musique. He founded and directed first the Rinat Choir - later named the Israel Chamber Choir - and then the Israel Chamber Ensemble with which Bertini made numerous appearances in Europe and the USA. Over the years, he has been principal conductor of the Frankfurt Opera and the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, artistic director of the New Israel Opera, and music director of the Rome Opera and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Bertini's breadth of repertoire was very impressive, reaching from the 16th century to contemporary composers.

This recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony by the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich under it's Music Director Paavo Jarvi, is the first in a complete cycle of Mahler symphonies. Jarvi has of course conducted Mahler's works many times in his career, but has waited for the right moment to record the complete cycle in the studio: the right moment not only in his life as a musician but also in his relationship with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich; the maturity and power revealed in the orchestra's recordings for Alpha Classics have been hailed by the music press since 2019. "Mahler truly opened up a new universe with the Fifth, in which he initiated an incredibly personal style of music-making." says Paavo Jarvi. "It is the very nature of it's opening - a military funeral - and of it's tragedy, in conjunction with the very idea of beginning a symphony in this way, which signals that something completely different is in store for us".

This recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony by the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich under it's Music Director Paavo Jarvi, is the first in a complete cycle of Mahler symphonies. Jarvi has of course conducted Mahler's works many times in his career, but has waited for the right moment to record the complete cycle in the studio: the right moment not only in his life as a musician but also in his relationship with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich; the maturity and power revealed in the orchestra's recordings for Alpha Classics have been hailed by the music press since 2019. "Mahler truly opened up a new universe with the Fifth, in which he initiated an incredibly personal style of music-making." says Paavo Jarvi. "It is the very nature of it's opening - a military funeral - and of it's tragedy, in conjunction with the very idea of beginning a symphony in this way, which signals that something completely different is in store for us".