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Symphony No. 2 & Violin Concerto

CPO

$18.99 May 15, 2026

Following the example of his distant 'great uncle' Felix, Arnold Mendelssohn (1853-1933) was a highly regarded composer, particularly in the field of Protestant sacred music, in which his famous relative had already distinguished himself. In contrast, his serious interest in the classical-romantic instrumental genres only began during the First World War, as if the composer wanted to reassure himself of tradition before all of the old structures collapsed. He was already approaching seventy when he wrote his violin concerto and, immediately afterwards, the second of his three symphonies-two witty masquerades whose broad spectrum between expressive meditation and a cheerful finale offers plenty of room for reminiscence, but not imitation. Mendelssohn juggles with symbols of the past but is never at their mercy. He masters them with ease.

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Symphony No. 2 & Violin Concerto
CPO May 2026
CD
$18.99

Mix & Match

Shostakovich: Symphony No 4 / Boreyko, Southwest German Rso

SWR

$10.49 ~~$20.99~~ Save 50% Feb 15, 2007

Shostakovich’s Fourth presents the elements that were to burst upon the Soviet scene in his next symphony, but without the Fifth’s tidier, simpler form, emotional unity, and morally uplifting finale to act as a buffer between the composer and the Composer’s Union. The enormous first movement alone, lasting nearly a half-an-hour in performance, offers both delicately spectral and crudely overblown waltzes, lyrical recitatives of intense beauty, parodies of ceremonial marches and polkas, learned counterpoint, violently dissonant climaxes, gentle solos, and brass riding the percussion like the Czar’s galloping army carving down a field of peaceful protestors without mercy. This is Shostakovich come into his own full, focused symphonic power for the first time, and reveling in it.

To complaints of sectionalism, both in the first and final movements, Boreyko’s reply might well be, “Your point?” He doesn’t downplay any of it. Instead, he uses its often dissociative blocks of content to deliberately create juxtapositions that shock, moments of quiet melancholy followed by instrumental screams or taunts. It’s as if he were shouting (with Shostakovich) at the audience to pay closer attention, to consider each panel in the triptych of brutality, mockery, and sullenness that he’s placed upon display. When the time is right, nothing is held back, and this becomes among the most uninhibited of available Fourths. At other moments, Boreyko reminds me occasionally of Jansons (Avie 2096) in the silken beauty he coaxes from the Stuttgart strings. But where Jansons makes that sound an end in itself, this conductor uses it to better conjure those points of relative emotional stability that Shostakovich repeatedly creates, and quickly destroys.

If I have a criticism, it is that the Scherzo is too deadpan. The coarse sarcasm of the winds and brass are taken straight, and the dissonances in the subsequent string fugue are slightly downplayed. The conductor builds an impressive climax to the movement, but he clearly views it as an emotional intermission between two lengthy, harrowing events. While sympathetic to the need to interject some ray of hope into the proceedings, I don’t find that this treatment works especially well. In the coda to the third movement, certainly; and Boreyko makes something powerful out of the side glance Shostakovich takes there at Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. But the Scherzo requires something darker and more incisive, in my opinion.

The rest of the album is given over to a short three-movement orchestral suite drawn from the composer’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. It is described on the jewel box cover as the world premiere recording of the original version, but nowhere inside is this discussed; and it’s the same suite present on Deutsche Grammophon 650702, issued last year. I find these three tiny excerpts tell us far less about the work than the lengthier conductor-arranged suites of Conlon and Runnicles. Still, as filler goes, they make light-hearted listening. Boreyko makes more of the score’s spikiness than Thomas Sanderling, and the Stuttgart RSO runs rings around the Russian PO.

Despite my expressed reservations, Boreyko’s Fourth moves in among my favorites. There it joins Kondrashin/Moscow PO, Rozhdestvensky/Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, and Sinaisky/BBC PO, all currently out of print. I find it slightly superior to Gergiev/Kirov Orchestra (Philips 470 842), where momentum trumps detail, but these are matters of personal taste. Both treatments are in excellent sound, and either will do for the modern Shostakovich collector looking for a first-rate performance of this fascinating work.

-- Barry Brenesal, FANFARE [11/2007]

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Shostakovich: Symphony No 4 / Boreyko, Southwest German Rso
SWR Feb 2007
CD
~~$20.99~~ $10.49

Franz Ignaz Beck: Symphonies Op. 4, Nos. 4-6 & Op. 3, No. 5

Naxos

$9.99 ~~$19.99~~ Save 50% Dec 09, 2014

The court at Manneheim, one of Europe’s great 18th-century musical centers, provided myriad opportunities for creative development. Having absorbed the ideas of his teacher, Johann Stamitz and other luminaries, Beck wrote a series of symphonies notable for their dramatic contrasts, breadth and sweep, the progressive inclusion of the woodwinds and a willingness to explore expressive intensity. His progressive use of woodwind instruments in the Symphony in G major, Op. 4 No. 5 is among the notable developments to be heard in this second recording of Beck symphonies by Marek Štilec and the Czech Chamber Philharmonic.

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Franz Ignaz Beck: Symphonies Op. 4, Nos. 4-6 & Op. 3, No. 5
Naxos Dec 2014
CD
~~$19.99~~ $9.99

Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 / Gilbert, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester

Sony Masterworks

$11.98 Sep 06, 2019

Austrian symphonist Bruckner was long denied the recognition that he deserved - which was a situation that almost endured until towards the end of his life. However, he owed his significant breakthrough as a composer to the premiere of his Seventh Symphony in Leipzig in 1884. With the famous Adagio, this work was an enormous success during Bruckner's lifetime and is still considered one of the most famous and beautiful works of romantic symphonic repertoire. Even Johann Strauss, Jr. was amazed by the symphony: "Am deeply moved. It was the musical experience of my life." For the present album, this deeply moving symphony is recently recorded in one of the most famous concert halls in the world, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, by its Orchestra in Residence NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under their new Chief Conductor Alan Gilbert. With this recording, one will experience Bruckner’s breathtaking Seventh Symphony in the spectacular big concert hall of Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 / Gilbert, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester
Sony Masterworks Sep 2019
CD
$11.98

SIBELIUS: SYMPHONIES NOS. 2 & 4

RUBICON

$20.17 Mar 25, 2022

Sibelius's Symphony No.2 of 1902 represents a big step forward in his development as a symphonist. It's thematic fragments are driven by harmonic tensions through which the composer takes the listener on an eventful journey. Symphony No.4 of 1907 inhabits a bleak, dark, emotionally fraught landscape. Sibelius had been diagnosed with a cancerous throat tumour and feared for his life. After a successful operation to remove it, he lived in fear of it's return. He gave up both whisky and cigars and suffered awful withdrawal symptoms. Battling with his demons and self-doubt, the result was an outpouring of honestly expressed emotions. Symphony No.4 is one of the greatest symphonies ever composed, and is expertly rendered by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Owain Arwel Hughes.

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SIBELIUS: SYMPHONIES NOS. 2 & 4
RUBICON Mar 2022
CD
$20.17

Mahler: Symphony no. 2 / Sir Simon Rattle, BRSO

BR Klassik

$19.99 Oct 16, 2026

For more than 50 years, Sir Simon Rattle, Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, has devoted himself intensely to the deeply personal, emotional, and autobiographical music of Gustav Mahler. Mahler conceived his symphonies as all-encompassing universes that reflect the full spectrum of human life. He famously said: “To me, a symphony means using every available technical resource to build a world.” To guide both orchestra and audience through these profoundly moving musical worlds, no conductor is better equipped than Sir Simon Rattle. Mahler's “Resurrection Symphony” explores one of humanity's most profound existential questions: the meaning of life. From the opening movement, originally titled “Totenfeier” (“Funeral Rite”), to the finale, in which the soloists and chorus proclaim “Aufersteh’n wirst du!“ (“You shall rise again!”), Mahler grapples with joy and suffering. The Second Symphony’s dramatic contrasts, emotional intensity, richly coloured orchestration, and crowning choral finale have made it one of his most beloved works. Now released on CD by BR-Klassik, the Munich performance of the symphony from March 2026 brings together a stellar cast in a superb interpretation of one of the defining masterpieces of the Late Romantic symphonic repertoire. Gustav Mahler wanted his Second Symphony to exceed any known format - and he also wanted it to tackle the key questions of existence: "Why have you lived? Why have you suffered? Is everything just one enormous, terrible joke? We have to solve these questions in some way if we want to carry on living," said the composer. Similar questions preoccupied him throughout his life, and with a special intensity during his time as an opera conductor in Hamburg. The Second Symphony, also referred to as the "Resurrection Symphony", is a complete expression of Mahler’s existential struggle; both its form and its overpowering sound make this utterly clear. The symphony took several years to compose – it was written between 1888 and 1894. In September 1888, the first movement – which at this point still bore the title "Totenfeier” (“Funeral Rite”) – was already complete. The second and third movements were not written until 1893 and Mahler only completed the entire work in 1894. Like most of Mahler’s symphonies, the work follows a "Per aspera ad astra" pattern (“through difficulties to the stars”). Starting with a funeral march in the main theme of the opening movement - the passing of a life full of vigour, pain, blows of fate, and only a few brief and beautiful moments - the symphony concludes with a triumphant resurrection movement. The premiere of the complete symphony took place on December 13, 1895 in Berlin under Mahler's direction; previously (on March 4 of that year) he had already performed the first three movements. The premiere of the Second Symphony thus took place after that of the Third. The reactions were initially subdued, but today the work ranks as one of the most popular of Mahler’s symphonies. - The Munich concert event of May 2011 is now being released on BR-KLASSIK as a CD – it is a star-studded, outstanding interpretation of one of the most important compositions in the Late Romantic symphonic repertoire.

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Mahler: Symphony no. 2 / Sir Simon Rattle, BRSO
BR Klassik Oct 2026
CD
$19.99

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Mahler: Symphony No. 9
SWR Apr 2010
CD
~~$20.99~~ $10.49

Classic Library - Prokofiev: Symphonies No 1 & 5, Lieutenant Kijé Suite

Sony Masterworks

$11.98 Oct 12, 2004

Yuri Temirkanov makes Prokofiev's well-worn Classical Symphony sound invitingly fresh through his swift tempos and painstaking observance of rhythm, accent, and dynamic contrast. The outer movements proceed with a breezy playfulness, while the larghetto and gavotte exude 18th-century elegance. The Lieutenant Kijé Suite is similarly accomplished as Temirkanov evokes the work's contrasting moods while nicely capturing its folk atmosphere, especially in the Troika.

Temirkanov doesn't really break any new ground in the Fifth Symphony, but his rendition nonetheless is impressive for its flowing tempos and sense of drama, especially at the close of the first movement with its phalanx of brass and percussion. Temirkanov uncovers some of the score's inner details, such as the usually inaudible piano part in the first and third movements. But the real star here is the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, whose bold brass, lively winds, and sumptuous strings (in the Adagio especially) make this one of the better versions on disc. With such fine performances, it's unfortunate that RCA's acoustically dry recording drains the sound of warmth, while the low levels require you to crank up the volume--but then, watch out for those big climaxes in the symphony!
--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com

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Classic Library - Prokofiev: Symphonies No 1 & 5, Lieutenant Kijé Suite
Sony Masterworks Oct 2004
CD
$11.98

SIBELIUS: SYM NO. 5 & STRAVINSKY: THE FIREBIRD

MUNCHNER PHILHARMONI

$17.49 Jul 15, 2022

The Munich Philharmonic and Sergiu Celibidache share an exceptional legacy. He started his work as principal conductor in 1979 and remained in this position for as long as 17 years. Sergiu Celibidache played an integral part in making the Munich Philharmonic what it is today: an orchestra of worldwide renown. On it's MPHIL label, the Munich Philharmonic is opening up it's vast archives, giving listeners the opportunity to enjoy one of the richest collections of recordings by legendary artists. Because of the Celibidache era and it's part in forming the core essence of the orchestra, the MPHIL label has placed a particular focus on archive recordings under the baton of Sergiu Celibidache. In spring 2022, it is a recording with Sergiu Celibidache with the Symphony No. In E-Flat Major Op. 82 by Jean Sibelius from 1988 as well as Igor Strawinsky's »The Firebird« from 1982. In Sibelius 5th Symphony, Thor swings his hammer, and the listener can feel cosmic forces at work in this music, something on which Sibelius himself commented when writing in 1914: "God opens the door for a moment and his orchestra is playing the Fifth Symphony." In this recording, Celibidache galvanizes the Munich Philharmonic in an interpretation of tremendous power and vision, Stravinsky's Firebird Suite is an opulent fairy tale. What makes this a great listening experience, is Celibidache's extraordinary understanding of the rhythmic dances that pulse throughout this score and the folkish elements that are spontaneously mastered. For the first time on the MPHIL label, this recording is being released digitally in mSpatial Dolby Atmos format: mSpatial, developed by msm-studios (Munich), transforms a vintage stereo recording into an authentic immersive (e.g. Dolby Atmos) listening experience. The procedure virtualizes the original hall acoustics of the recording venue, based on algorithms using on-site acoustic measurements. Sergiu Celibidache never accepted recordings of his concerts as real, valid music. For him, music only happened in the very moment in time when it was performed, and only for the audience present in the concert hall during that concert. The late Maestro's postulation of simultaneous time is lost forever. However, mSpatial gets the listener closer than ever to the second aspect of his credo by creating a virtual immersive acoustic in the listener's environment, which is true to the original acoustic experience in the concert hall where the performance happened.

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SIBELIUS: SYM NO. 5 & STRAVINSKY: THE FIREBIRD
MUNCHNER PHILHARMONI Jul 2022
CD
$17.49

Sibelius: Symphonies No 1 & 4 / Colin Davis, London Symphony
RCA May 2011
CD
$17.99

Mahler, G.: Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection"
Antes Edition Apr 1998
CD
$37.99

BEETHOVEN: Octet / Piano Quintet / Symphony No. 7 (arr. for
Chandos Jun 1996
CD
$21.99

SYMPHONY NO.1
Sterling Records Aug 2013
CD
$20.99

Mahler: Symphony No. 4 - Wagner: Prelude from Parsifal - Men

ICA Classics

$14.99 Nov 19, 2013

The highly distinguished conductor Rudolf Kempe (1910-1976) started as an oboist with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. During the Second World War, he was chief conductor of the Chemnitz Opera until 1946. He then worked at Weimar for the 1948-9 season, before joining the Dresden Opera and becoming chief conductor. From 1952 to 1954, he was chief conductor of the Bavarian State Opera, which he conducted at Covent Garden in 1953 to great acclaim. Mahler's Symphony No.4 is a new addition to the Kempe discography. The recording, which was discovered in the Music Preserved archive in York, is a real rarity. Similarly, Mendelssohn's Ruy Blas Overture is a new addition to the conductor's discography. It is heard here in a fiery performance captured live from the Royal Festival Hall in 1967 with the LSO. Kempe's account of the Prelude to Act I of Wagner's Parsifal, recorded in 1965, confirms his status as one of the greatest Wagnerian conductors of the 20th century. His Covent Garden performances of Parsifal in 1959 were landmarks for the company.

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Mahler: Symphony No. 4 - Wagner: Prelude from Parsifal - Men
ICA Classics Nov 2013
CD
$14.99

Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 / The Rock
Chandos Mar 2010
CD
$21.99

Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 / Poschner, Linz Bruckner Orchestra

Capriccio

$21.99 Sep 03, 2021

Start of the most comprehensive Bruckner Symphonies Edition incl. all available 19 versions. Bruckner burst out of the confines of the cathedral using that most secular of musical forms: the symphony. It is with reflexive reoccurrence in music history that supposed performance traditions burn themselves into a score as if they were a given… and the more so, the further we get from the work’s creation. So many clichés and truths about his person and his work are at last being questioned or, if they aren’t yet, are overdue some scrutiny. It is an essential aspect of this album edition to read and understand the text fresh and anew. Whence does Bruckner’s music come and whereunto does it point? With the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra Capriccio could engage two of the best Austrian orchestras for this in total 19 versions counting cycle. With about 1065 minutes of music this complete symphonic edition will be finished in 2024, when we will celebrate Bruckner’s 200th Birthday.

REVIEW:

This is the first release in what promises to be a complete cycle of all of the Bruckner symphonies in all of their various versions. It would be more exciting if the industry hadn’t already been spitting out Bruckner symphony recordings like a baseball dugout chewing tobacco, but perhaps when this series concludes, in 2024, the 200th anniversary of Bruckner’s birth, the mania will subside for a while and we can move on to other things. Of course, this assumes that the moronic apparatus known as Bruckner “scholarship” stops issuing new editions of the symphonies.

Markus Poschner’s view of the Sixth reminds me of Jochum’s. It’s a lively, rhythmically alert interpretation that permits a welcome flexibility of pulse, reserving the moments of gravity for the Adagio and such intimate passages as those in the finale’s second subject. Poschner’s careful attention to rhythm pays big dividends in the first movement’s development section, and especially in the scherzo, which is unquestionably one of the finest on disc. I do wish he had made a bit more out of the finale’s closing pages. He just plows straight through them, accepting the slight feeling of anticlimax that results; but then, that’s really Bruckner’s fault.

Of course, the Bruckner Orchestra of Linz knows the music as well as any group in existence, but what impresses most is its ability to keep it sounding so fresh. I mean, imagine growing up on a diet of Bruckner and Philip Glass symphonies. Kill me now. So good job all around, including the clean and clear engineering. Up next: the 1890 Eighth in Nowak’s edition. Keep your fingers crossed.

– ClassicsToday.com (David Hurwitz)

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Bruckner: Symphony No. 6 / Poschner, Linz Bruckner Orchestra
Capriccio Sep 2021
CD
$21.99

Bruckner: Symphony No. 6
Challenge Classics May 2013
SACD
$20.99

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BEETHOVEN, SYMPHONY NO. 3, OVE
MDG Sep 2016
SACD
~~$24.99~~ $18.99

Bruckner: Symphonie No. 1

Fra Bernardo

$20.99 Jan 28, 2014

BRUCKNER Symphony No. 1 (1866 vers) • Philipp von Steinaecker, cond; Musica Saeculorum • FRA BERNARDO 1310322 (47:57) Live: Musik Meran

The program notes to this recording state that the 60-person Musica Saeculorum opted to record Bruckner’s Symphony No. 1 in its original 1866 edition on period instruments in an effort “to identify any possible connection to Schubert and the early Romantics.” Harmonically, of course, Bruckner is worlds removed from Schubert and his contemporaries. But the use of period instruments does offer Bruckner a slightly more subdued timbral palette than most listeners are accustomed to in his music. The strings are somewhat darker, the brass a bit more veiled. Whether because of instrumentation, recording engineering, or conducting choices, though, I find that the strings have a tendency to overbalance the other instruments in tutti sections, occasionally making melodic material difficult to discern. This is my primary criticism of this disc. Bruckner at his most forceful can and should be overwhelming, but the counterpoint should always be clear; his tuttis mark the apotheoses of thematic material. In this recording, these passages tend to be rather murky and undifferentiated.

This criticism aside, Philipp von Steinaecker demonstrates a keen understanding of Bruckner’s aesthetic. The dotted rhythms of the first movement’s main theme are crisp and energetic, as are the horn’s responses. Von Steinaecker lingers appropriately on Bruckner’s extended passages of dominant harmony, building harmonic tension through strategic ritards in preparation for majestic statements in the brass. Even within string passages, though, figuration occasionally overshadows melody, as in the contrapuntal development of the first theme in the violins against sextuplet scales in the lower strings or the recapitulation of the second theme in the basses against eighth-note figuration in the upper strings. The modulatory passages that follow, however, are forceful and stern, and the rush to the final bars is quite exciting, though I would have liked the thematic material in the winds to be clearer.

Von Steinaecker’s is one of the more expansive readings of the symphony’s second movement, over a minute longer than Jochum’s. I find the expansiveness effective; the chromatic introduction becomes nebulous enough to make the eventual arrival of stable tonality a genuine relief. In the soaring passages that follow, though, minimal differentiation is made between melody and accompaniment. Von Steinaecker is sensitive to the ebb and flow of harmonic tension, but the melodic contours are lost throughout much of the movement.

The third movement is perhaps the most successful, with strong, almost violent accents and sharp contrasts in dynamics. At nearly a minute shorter than Jochum’s performance and 90 seconds briefer than Barenboim’s, it is among the more energetic recordings of this movement. I only wish that the brass dissonances toward the end received more weight. And the trio has the same problems with balance as the previous two movements: the motivic fourths in the horn are quite difficult to hear.

The fourth movement has almost no balance issues, although Bruckner’s orchestration is not particularly different in this movement than in the others. The opening pages are powerful and imposing, though I would have liked von Steinaecker to take an even greater ritard over the extended dominant harmonies that precede the second statement of the first theme. The second theme, stated in the violins with offbeat accents in the basses, is appropriately rustic. Likewise, von Steinaecker builds tension admirably before Bruckner’s characteristic pauses. The development maintains a consistent sense of direction. Von Steinaecker is particularly effective in his treatment of Bruckner’s obsessively-repeated scale fragments in the strings, which he leads gradually from background to foreground against the melodic material in the horns. The ending is triumphant and grand, though a broader ritard before the final cadence would have made it more so.

Because of the balance issues mentioned above, I cannot give this recording a wholehearted recommendation, but von Steinaecker’s conception of the piece is intelligent and appealing. The sound is generally crisp and live, with very slight tape hiss apparent at the beginnings and ends of tracks.

FANFARE: Myron Silberstein

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Bruckner: Symphonie No. 1
Fra Bernardo Jan 2014
CD
$20.99

Mendelssohn: Symphonies 3 & 5; Ruy Blas Overture / Bernstein, New York Philharmonic
Sony Masterworks Jun 2012
CD
$17.99

Mahler: Symphony No. 3 / Bychkov, Czech Philharmonic

PENTATONE

$29.99 Mar 07, 2025

The Czech Philharmonic and its Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov continue their acclaimed Mahler cycle with the composer's Third Symphony, working together with mezzo-soprano Catriona Morison, the Prague Philharmonic Choir and Pueri Gaudentes. In this monumental work, Mahler combines a text from Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra with the folk song inspirations of Des Knaben Wunderhorn, culminating in eternal bliss in the closing Adagio. To Bychkov, this longest Mahler symphony offers his "least hysterical" music, and hearing it for the first time as a 10-year-old choirboy kindled his life-long fascination and love for this composer. With this recording, it comes full circle.

The Czech Philharmonic - recently awarded Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year Award - is one of the world's orchestral gems, recognized for its rich tradition with the Czech masters as well as European repertoire. Together with their Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov, they have so far recorded for PENTATONE Mahler's First, Second, Fourth and Fifth Symphonies (2022-2023), part of the complete Mahler cycle to be released by the label, as well as Smetana's Ma vlast and Dvorak's Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Symphonies (2024). The Orchestra is also featured on the albums Folk Songs (2023) and Czech Songs (2024) recorded by Magdalena Ko�ena and Sir Simon Rattle, as well as Dvorak Legends & Rhapsodies with Tomas Netopil.

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Mahler: Symphony No. 3 / Bychkov, Czech Philharmonic
PENTATONE Mar 2025
CD
$29.99

Frederic Cliffe: Symphony No. 1; Cloud And Sunshine
Sterling Records Aug 2013
CD
$20.99

Darmstadter Sinfonien (Darmstadt Symphonies)

CPO

$18.99 Jan 30, 2026

The name Johann Stamitz is so inextricably linked to the legendary "Mannheim School" that the title of this production might be viewed as a misprint. In fact, however, there is nothing wrong with the Bohemian musician's "Darmstadt Symphonies," as their name merely refers to the place where the performance material was archived. The parts were prepared by Christoph Graupner, the Kapellmeister of the Darmstadt Court Orchestra at the time. It cannot be determined exactly where and when Stamitz wrote this lively, concise, and innovative music; however, there is no doubt that these compositions take us back to the earliest years of a genre that, despite countless changes, has remained a creative touchstone to this day. To sense the spirit of the birth of the symphonic tradition is a refreshing experience: at the beginning of all things, the power of simplicity reigns.

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Darmstadter Sinfonien (Darmstadt Symphonies)
CPO Jan 2026
CD
$18.99

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Mahler: Symphony No. 5 & Des Knaben Wunderhorn / Nelsons, Goerne [Blu-ray]

Accentus Music

Blu-Ray

$41.99 Mar 21, 2016

Also available on standard DVD

Andris Nelsons conducted the Lucerne Festival Orchestra for the third time in August 2015, the orchestra’s second summer without founder and guiding spirit Claudio Abbado. The first half of his concert was already a highlight: the baritone Matthias Goerne seemed completely at home in a selection of songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. His warm, dark voice allows him to capture the somber and tragic atmosphere of this music like no one else. Its shaded timbre is most perfectly suited to the work’s melancholy and nocturnal moods, where one can directly experience how an artist of this caliber can bring music to the edge of the abyss. The Lucerne Festival Orchestra, renowned for its unique Mahler sound, had last played Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in the summer of 2004 with Abbado – a flowing, transparent, and ethereal interpretation. Nelsons finds a completely different approach to the work. His Mahler is fiery, expansive, and powerful. In spite of the introductory funeral march, his reading is more positive than tragic, radiating an intense vitality. It is breathtaking to observe the orchestra’s response to Nelsons’s energetic, physical, and emotional conducting style. The relationship between orchestra and conductor is one of giving and taking, nothing else.

Picture Format Blu?ray: NTSC 16:9, Full HD

Sound Formats Blu?ray: DTS HD Master Audio, PCM Stereo

Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

Running Time: 123:12 min

Disc Format: BD 25

Subtitles: German (Original), French, English, Japanese, Korean

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Mahler: Symphony No. 5 & Des Knaben Wunderhorn / Nelsons, Goerne [Blu-ray]
Accentus Music Mar 2016
Blu-Ray
$41.99

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" / Rouvali, Philharmonia Orchestra

Signum Classics

$27.99 Sep 22, 2023

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 Philharmonia has an extraordinary 77-year recording legacy; and has recorded around 150 soundtracks; with film credits stretching back to 1947. In the 2021/22 season the Orchestra performs in Romania; Spain; Finland; Greece and Germany.

Santtu-Matias Rouvali is a Finnish conductor and percussionist; and is currently principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. Rouvali continues his relationships with orchestras across Europe; including with the Berlin Philharmonic; New York Philharmonic; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Munich Phillharmonic and the the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

REVIEW:

In the first movement Rouvali is animated and engaged, using a lighter hand than most other conductors. Such a natural lyrical bent would seem to run counter to music that Mahler originally conceived as a funeral rite (Totenfeier), and it’s certainly unusual for a conductor to have such a relaxed grip on the drama and still make the first movement work.

The point is underscored in the minuet-like second movement, usually a throwaway, which is captivating in Rouvali’s hands, a nostalgic poem. The Scherzo is taken at quite a clip, divorcing the music from the gently satiric song in Des Knaben Wunderhorn about St. Anthony preaching to a school of transfixed fish. Rouvali sharpens the edges and makes the movement rambunctiously exciting—I can’t remember any other conductor leading this music one beat to a bar.

As the soloist in the raptly reverent “Urlicht,” mezzo Jennifer Johnston is sensitive and sincere, but Rouvali leads such an eloquent orchestral part that one wishes he had a singer of the highest caliber. Johnston’s German is more than a shade too basic for the poetry. The thunder and brass that open the fifth movement display excellent balance, bringing forward this conductor’s ability to extract beautiful playing for which the word “burnished” was invented. The many solos and ensemble passages in the final half hour of the “Resurrection” Symphony come off with unforced gorgeousness, needing no shred of rhetoric to make an impact.

Rouvali has held his fire to some extent, making it all the more thrilling when he unleashes the full power of the finale in moments of blazing climax. He must have had the audience on the edge of their seats. Against this tumult, the sudden whispered quiet of the chorus is doubly effective. Soprano Mari Eriksmoen emerges with melting lyricism, and yet you are aware that Rouvali milks nothing for effect—his eye is fixed on the musicality of every measure. You also notice how even the softest passages retain a restrained intensity that keeps the moving line tensile and alive. This is particularly helpful in the duets for mezzo and soprano, where the momentum is most likely to sag. Here, not a single transition is awkward or faltering.

The final apotheosis is so magnificently handled that I can’t blame the producers for including a minute of excited applause from the audience in Royal Festival Hall. For anyone who has harbored doubts about Rouvali’s meteoric rise, a performance as imaginative and beautifully shaped as this one should dispel them. I’m convinced that he has a special gift. I cannot wait to see how it will unfold in the coming years.

-- Fanfare (Huntley Dent)

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Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" / Rouvali, Philharmonia Orchestra
Signum Classics Sep 2023
CD
$27.99