Also available on Blu-ray

The eight Mahler symphonies contained in this box were all recorded live as part of the Leipzig Mahler cycle that began with the acclaimed Mahler Festival in 2011. They once again confirmed the Gewandhausorchester's reputation as a Mahler reference orchestra, which was consolidated in particular thanks to the intensive examination of Mahler's work under the direction of former Gewandhaus Kapellmeister Riccardo Chailly, who emphasized the compositional qualities of the works, traced the origins of their interpretive history and avoided false pathos and sentimentality despite all the drama and urgency. This becomes clear especially in the more than two hours of documentation material which supplements these exceptional Mahler recordings. In addition to Riccardo Chailly, leading Mahler experts such as Henry-Louis de la Grange and Reinhold Kubik give an insight into Mahler's works and their interpretation. In addition to its musical excellence, the Leipzig Mahler cycle impresses with its graphic design. Each cover of the cycle is adorned with a work by the Leipzig painter Neo Rauch that was inspired by Mahler's music and painted specifically for this cycle.

Excerpts of reviews from previously released volumes in this set:

Mahler: Symphony No. 7 / Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig

The Leipzig players do Chailly proud. There are so many stunning solos, from tenor horn at the start to the first trumpet who never splits brilliant top notes in the finale. This of all symphonies requires a terrifying amount of preparation - there's none better than this one.

– BBC Music Magazine

Mahler: Symphony No. 5 / Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig

Chailly is a pleasure to watch, being neither over-demonstrative nor affectedly matter-of-fact. If the rest of this projected second Chailly Mahler cycle is as good as this, then I suspect we have treats aplenty in store.

– Gramophone (Editor's Choice, November 2014)

Chailly's latest Mahler Five surely has the best of all possible worlds for this comprehensive darkness-to-light epic. It's rewarding to see the Leipzig Gewandhaus strings articulating with such mobile engagement.

– BBC Music Magazine

Mahler: Symphony No. 9 / Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig

Here we have something very special, and a good deal more than 'just another Mahler Ninth. This Leipzig Ninth is Chailly off the leash, liberating the music in a way that is impassioned, positive, fitfully fractured and often ethereal. He flicks the Symphony's heartbeat opening into action with the most economical of gestures.

– Gramophone (Editor's Choice, November February 2015)

Alexandre Bloch, who has been Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lille since 2016, has chosen to devote a whole season of concerts to Mahler’s symphonies. The Seventh (1904-05) is the most rarely recorded of the cycle – unjustly, because this work later nicknamed ‘Song of the Night’ testifies as clearly as its companions to the metaphysical grandiloquence that haunted Mahler during its gestation. From the gloomy Adagio of the first movement to the thundering Rondo that concludes the work, Alexandre Bloch and his orchestra lead us from the anguish of twilight to the ecstasies of dawn.

Gustav Mahler's death left his Tenth Symphony unfinished, consisting only of an unfinished score and several sketches. Ensemble Mini, a radical collective of soloists from Germany's finest orchestras, presents Michelle Castelletti's fascinating recreation of the work - one of the most powerful sound creations ever written - in a version for chamber ensemble. Ensemble Mini is a radical collective of super-sonic-soloists from Germany's top orchestras that repackages super symphonic music for new audiences. Addressing the need to make classical music cool for the 21st century, its mission is to revolutionize the symphonic concert experience through new style, sound and setting whilst never dumbing down.

The much acclaimed series of the complete Mahler Symphonies with the Düsseldorf Symphonic under the baton of Ádám Fischer gets more complete with the release of the Symphony No. 2. Ádám Fischer writes: “Mahler’s Second Symphony has special significance for me… The first reason is biographical. Mahler finished writing the first movement in Budapest where he was musical director at the opera. When I was likewise general music director at Budapest Opera, I imagined that Mahler had sat in the same room and gotten angry over the same things as I did. Work at the opera must have been so nerve-wracking that he found no time for anything else. I can only confirm that. A second thought leads me to Haydn. We know that famous quote from Hans von Bülow, who is reported to have exclaimed that Wagner’s Tristan, compared with the first movement of Mahler’s Second Symphony, was as tame as a Haydn symphony. This mainly leads me to think that von Bülow was probably not yet aware of the direct connection that leads from Haydn to Mahler, which I sense. As far as I am concerned, Mahler is just as much a part of Vienna Classicism as Haydn. The third personal story has to do with the third movement, which is based on Mahler’s song Saint Anthony of Padua’s Sermon to the Fishes. For the past thirty years I have been working in favor of a series of human and citizens’ rights organizations. I find that no other piece better describes the dilemma experienced by these organizations and movements than Mahler’s song.”

Hermann Behn (1859-1927) was one of Mahler‘s close friends in Hamburg. The doctor of law also studied composition with Anton Bruckner in Vienna and Joseph Rhein-berger in Munich. His compositional work includes no less than nine song books and a piano sonata. He became an important sponsor for Mahler, because Behn valued Mahler‘s music and supported its distribution - especially with financial means - as much as possible. Together with the industrialist Wilhelm Berkhan from Hamburg, he also assumed the considerable costs for the premiere of the Second Symphony on December 13, 1895 in Berlin. Mahler, in turn, was very impressed by Behn‘s compositions, especially by his songs. After Mahler had completed his Second Symphony, he handed the manuscript to his friend Behn, because he wanted to know it in safe hands. Without informing Mahler about it, Behn arranged the work for two pianos. When Mahler came back from a trip and Behn surprised him with this arrangement, he was thrilled. He called it “excellent” and played the first three movements together with Behn four hands in his house. The manuscript has only just been discovered by Behn‘s great-grand niece, the pianist Christiane Behn, and was premiered in Hamburg on November 17th, 2008 in the small hall of the Laeiszhalle. This album is a recording of this performance.

This set of three films provides an outstanding showcase for the artistry of dancer Roberto Bolle, a ballet star of our own time. For the 75th anniversary celebrations of The Royal Ballet, Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia was restored to the splendor of its elegant and opulent three-act form. Casting Bolle as Aminta alongside Darcey Bussell in the title role, this is a wonderful showcase for virtuosity, invention and classical beauty. By contrast Roland Petit’s Notre-Dame de Paris exudes modernity, with its cool choreography and chic costumes by Yves Saint-Laurent. Here Bolle’s tragic Quasimodo, by turns fierce and tender, dances opposite Natalia Osipova as Esmeralda. In a second production from La Scala, the Ballet Corp’s traditional Grand Gala aligns with Milan’s tenure as host city of EXPO 2015, and Roberto Bolle, as one of La Scala’s étoiles, plays a central role in the stunning programme of excerpts. He performs the pas de deux from yet another Petit masterwork, dancing Don José to Polina Semionova’s Carmen, along with the mesmerizing contemporary solo Prototype.

This set of three films provides an outstanding showcase for the artistry of dancer Roberto Bolle, a ballet star of our own time. For the 75th anniversary celebrations of The Royal Ballet, Frederick Ashton’s Sylvia was restored to the splendor of its elegant and opulent three-act form. Casting Bolle as Aminta alongside Darcey Bussell in the title role, this is a wonderful showcase for virtuosity, invention and classical beauty. By contrast Roland Petit’s Notre-Dame de Paris exudes modernity, with its cool choreography and chic costumes by Yves Saint-Laurent. Here Bolle’s tragic Quasimodo, by turns fierce and tender, dances opposite Natalia Osipova as Esmeralda. In a second production from La Scala, the Ballet Corp’s traditional Grand Gala aligns with Milan’s tenure as host city of EXPO 2015, and Roberto Bolle, as one of La Scala’s étoiles, plays a central role in the stunning programme of excerpts. He performs the pas de deux from yet another Petit masterwork, dancing Don José to Polina Semionova’s Carmen, along with the mesmerizing contemporary solo Prototype.

Kassel, the city in the heart of Germany, internationally known as the city of the world art exhibition "documenta", which takes place every five years, also attracted international attention in the field of music when the then General Music Director Ádám Fischer initiated the "Gustav Mahler Fest Kassel" in 1989. With the "Festspielorchester", an orchestra of its own quality and characteristics was created. In addition to the concertmaster Rainer Hocke of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the oboe and clarinet groups of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra were formed, whose instruments have special characteristics and thus a specific sound. The same applies to the horns, which play an important role in Mahler's music. The special string sound of musicians such as the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Prague, the orchestra of the Hungarian State Opera as well as the brass, especially trumpets, from German orchestras, supplemented by musicians from Brno, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam as well as from Frankfurt, Hanover, Cologne and Düsseldorf, gave Mahler's music a particularly adequate sound. Of course, the Kassel State Orchestra, with a total of 20 musicians, who took turns, played a major role in the festival orchestra.

Collectif9 is a Montreal-based string ensemble whose main focus is an original exploration of the classical repertoire, including transcriptions for chamber ensemble of large-scale works. Alpha is starting a collaboration with this innovative group and now presents its very first album, recorded in 2018 and consisting of music by (and inspired by) Gustav Mahler: No Time for Chamber Music, a nod to Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia, inspired in its turn by Mahler’s Second Symphony. Mahler himself often quoted his own works, and his rich instrumental textures have provided a source of inspiration for composers and arrangers alike. The program begins with two works drawn from his First Symphony: Comme un bruit de la nature (Like a sound of Nature) and L’Enterrement du chasseur (The hunter’s burial), inspired by a woodcut by the nineteenth-century artist Moritz von Schwind in which the animals mourn the death of the hunter. The ensemble’s double bass player, Thibault Bertin-Maghit, made the arrangements, while Philippe Hersant has written a Fantaisie based on fragments from a number of works by Mahler.

Kirill Kondrashin was one of the most prominent Russian conductors in the generation following Mravinsky. He was born in Moscow in 1914 into a family of musicians, studied at the Moscow conservatory under Boris Khaikin, went to Leningrad in 1936 to be the conductor of the Maly Theater and to the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow in 1943. At the same time, he was conducting various Russian concert orchestras. In 1956 he left the Bolshoi Theater to devote himself entirely to the concert podium. He became the preferred partner of such great soloists as Emil Gilels, Leonid Kogan, David Oistrach, Sviatoslav Richter, and Mstislav Rostropovich. Tully Potter called him “probably the best concert accompanist of the twentieth century.” After Kondrashin’s work had increasingly shifted out of the country, he emigrated to the Netherlands in 1978 and became permanent conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra along with Bernard Haitink. From his home in Amsterdam, he kept up with his duties as guest conductor, including many at various West German radio stations. His concerts left a deep impression in Munich, and Kondrashin succeeded Rafael Kubelik as new Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1982. Before he was able to take over his new position, however, Kondrashin died of a heart attach shortly after a concert in Amsterdam in March 1981.

MAHLER: SYMPHONY NO 4 MOZART

Where some conductors cultivate neo-classical grace and order in this music, Gatti relishes just as much its pungent discontinuities. Like Rattle, he seems to take his cue from the opening bars and the way the childlike, jingling sleigh bells are caught out, immediately undermined. . . . One could hardly mistake Gatti’s exceptional ear in the first movement: he unearths a wealth of uncomfortable detail, wind lines in particular jostling for attention like gawky adolescents. . . . After a Scherzo in the same provocative vein, the slow movement is projected with extreme sensitivity. Don’t expect the lofty, Beethovenian repose of Sir Colin Davis: Gatti is lighter and more flexible . . . . [T]he string lines are shaded with exquisite, heartfelt lyricism, radiant high above the stave. In the finale, the light, shining timbre of Ruth Ziesak is a distinct asset, well-placed to offer consoling balm as Mahler evokes the joys of heaven and its music through the eyes of a child. . . . [T]his is a reading of real originality. The four songs are a welcome bonus in sympathetic orchestrations by David and Colin Matthews. . . . The eloquent notes are by David Matthews for whom ‘Mahler is one of the first composers whose work relates to the whole history of music rather than simply to his immediate predecessors; in this respect he belongs very much to our time.’ Gatti’s Mahler has this ‘authentic’, all-embracing quality: he dons the X-ray specs of modern Mahler interpretation without sacrificing the emotional warmth of a previous generation. -- Gramophone

When the Bamberg Symphony and their principal conductor Jakub Hruša went on tour in Germany with Mahler's Fourth Symphony in January 2020, no one would have thought that this symphony in particular would become a kind of "symphony of fate" of the year, for only two months later, the performance of major symphonic works was impossible for a long time after the "corona lockdown" in Germany, which hit cultural institutions particularly hard. The Bamberg Symphony were involved at an early stage in investigating the effects of making music together on the spread of the virus and helped to develop concepts for safe concert performances. This enabled their renowned Mahler Competition to take place in early July 2020, with Mahler's Fourth Symphony at its center. Even though it is the smallest Mahler symphony, these were the first symphonic performances after months, which then led to one of the first symphonic album recordings in times of the pandemic - seated apart, but musically closer than ever.

October 2011 marked the 100th anniversary of the Hamburg premiere of Mahler’s Second Symphony. This release features music recorded from the previous year with the Hamburg Philharmonic under the direction of Simone Young. Michaela Kaune and Dagmar Pecková appear as the soloists, performing with the NDR Choir and the Latvia State Choir in an impressive interpretation of Mahler’s Second.

REVIEWS:

Hugely impressive, a must for all Mahlerians...the heroine of the hour is Simone Young.

Mahler’s Resurrection has been much recorded in recent years, so much so that new versions prompt one to groan inwardly and mutter: ‘Not another one’. Such ubiquity has its price, for any newcomer has to be something out of the ordinary if it’s to have any impact. Of recent releases David Zinman (Sony-BMG), Jonathan Nott (Tudor) and James Levine (Orfeo) definitely belong in this category; Vladimir Jurowski (LPO) and Markus Stenz (Oehms) manifestly don’t. And now Oehms are taking another bite out of the cherry, with the Hamburg orchestra led by their chief conductor Simone Young.

But does this strategy pay off? First impressions are highly favorable; Young adopts sensible speeds and a generally spacious approach that really lets the music breathe. As for the orchestra, they play like a group of chamber musicians, each miraculous contribution dovetailing neatly with the next. Textures have a shot-silk quality that’s especially attractive, putting Oehms’ Super Audio efforts for Stenz to shame. And climaxes are superbly judged as well, expanding without any sense of strain; as for the soundstage, it’s as broad as it is deep, perspective natural and timbres vividly registered.

This lightness of touch – not to be confused with lightweight – is such a relief after the heavy-handedness of some rivals, especially in the affectionate phrasing of the Andante. Young doesn’t dawdle, the music as fleet-footed as one could wish for, the silken strings lifting Mahler’s lovely tunes and really making them sing. There’s little of the tugging and misjudged tempo relationships that mar so many readings of this symphony; that tends to underline this conductor’s unwavering sense of clarity and purpose, qualities that I yearn for – but don’t always find – in this glorious work.

This tautness of conception and ensemble continues in the Scherzo...As for the woodwinds, they’re alert and idiomatic, the lower brass growling with the best of them. But it’s the liquidity of rhythm that’s most telling here. Young presses on without ever seeming rushed or perfunctory. Indeed, that’s another aspect of this performance that demands a mention; none of Mahler’s quirkier passages is ignored or sidelined. The music is in a constant – and intoxicating – state of efflorescence. This really is Mahler playing of the highest order, magnificently recorded

Young builds and maintains tension throughout. The sudden eruptions are entirely expected and, more important, suitably scaled. Just sample the outburst at 8:04; it’s massive without being ponderous or overdriven. Moreover, it’s not as histrionic as some, which fits in well with Young’s clear-eyed view of this score. I know Klaus Tennstedt’s recently released live Resurrection has its devotees, but its extreme soul-baring strikes me as self-serving and, ultimately, self-defeating. While the LPO play this music as if to the manner born, the Hamburg playing is more sharply characterized. They’re precise but not at all pedantic, every nuance and instrumental strand is uncovered in the most easeful way.

...the cataclysm that follows is truly thunderous, Young dimming the lights as it were, so that when the Resurrection motif appears it glows beautifully in the inky darkness. It’s an effective piece of theatre that works this time round. Although the passages that follow aren’t as broad as they can be, they’re alive with incident and chockful of detail. This really is a most impressive recording, every bit as immersive as Nott’s Super Audio disc. Indeed, the crack of timps here is just as arresting as it is on the high-tech Tudor one; oh, and I’d love to know what tam-tams the Hamburg band use, as they pack a mighty shimmer.

Young presses on, but there’s so much in which to revel – helped by the fact that the orchestra keeps its composure throughout – that one isn’t aware of just how swift she is from this point on. It’s incredibly exciting, the offstage contributions rather distant but just audible above the hike in ambient noise.

Again one can only marvel at the subtle instrumental and vocal shading the engineers extract from this acoustic. It’s a pity the soloists aren’t ideally secure, but what a heart-racing sense of anticipation Young conjures here - what trembling inexorability, that throwaway harp figure like the rending of a veil. Although the organ isn’t very prominent the tam-tams are simply stunning, the closing pages as death-defiant as ever.

What a glorious coda to this double centenary, with its hits and misses, and what a triumph for Oehms[.] But the heroine of the hour is Simone Young who, while no stranger to these symphonies, here confirms her Mahlerian credentials in a most emphatic fashion. Despite one or two minor caveats, this Resurrection belongs in the select company of recent issues from Zinman, Nott and Levine, all of whom bring something memorable to this oft-played score. Hugely impressive, a must for all Mahlerians.

-- Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International

Marc Albrecht conducts the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra with the acclaimed mezzo-soprano Alice Coote in a persuasive new recording of Mahler’s incomparable orchestral song cycles Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Kindertotenlieder and the Rückert-Lieder. Richly lyrical, poignant and soul searching, Mahler’s orchestral songs deal with the familiar themes of love, life, resignation and loss, exquisitely realised on an orchestral canvas which combines haunting and compelling sonorities with strident, unsettling dissonances. While not as ambitious as his symphonies, they are as deeply-felt and often regarded as the key to the larger-scale works. The eloquent sadness of the Kindertotenlieder is expressed though the rather bare orchestration and the entrancing use of solo instruments, culminating in a blissfully serene conclusion. With Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, the restless mood swings are matched with fluctuating, vividly textured orchestral colours. And for the most lyrical song cycle, the Rückert-Lieder, the delicately woven orchestral textures are ravishing in their effect, especially in the incomparable Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, a song of which Mahler said “It is truly me”. “What makes Albrecht’s Mahler so unique? His approach has integrity, is intelligent and sensitive … Albrecht leads the Mahler that makes you love Mahler.” (NRC Handelsblad). Marc Albrecht is Music Director of the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and the Dutch National Opera. Acclaimed for his interpretations of Wagner, Strauss and Mahler, as well as for his commitment to contemporary music, Albrecht is a regular guest at Europe’s most prestigious opera houses and orchestras. The world renowned mezzo-soprano Alice Coote is acclaimed for her performances of Strauss, Mahler, Berlioz, Mozart, Handel and Bach; she performs throughout the UK, Europe and the US and has a busy recital schedule. The Guardian noted “Alice Coote's many admirers will be grateful to have her performance in Mahler’s great song-symphony documented in a carefully made studio recording [for PENTATONE], for she has emerged over the past few years as one of the finest mezzo interpreters of Das Lied von der Erde around … exquisitely coloured; every word matters, and the sadness that pervades the mezzo songs in particular is conveyed without it ever becoming self-conscious or sentimental.”