Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor 'Resurrection'

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Vänskä has very clear ideas of his own about Mahler...The disadvantage of that in this Resurrection comes, for me, very early on: after a swift, rather lightweight signing-in for fire and fury,... — BBC Music Magazine, March 2019, 3 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 5 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 1st Feb 2019
Catalogue No: BIS2296
Label: BIS
Series: Osmo Vänskä Mahler Symphonies
Length: 84 minutes

International Classical Music Awards

2019

Nominee - Symphonic Music

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection'

Work length1:24:36

Album only

Sasha Cooke (mezzo-soprano), Ruby Hughes (soprano)
Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Chorale
Osmo Vänskä
Recorded: June 2017
Recording Venue: Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, United States

I. Allegro maestoso. Mit durchaus ernstem und feierlichem Ausdruck

Track length23:38

Album only

II. Andante moderato. Sehr gemächlich

Track length10:00

$1.50

$2.60

$3.50

III. Scherzo. In ruhig fließender Bewegung

Track length10:53

$1.50

$3.85

$5.25

IV. Urlicht. Sehr feierlich, aber schlicht

Track length5:28

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

V. Im Tempo des Scherzos. Wild herausfahrend - Wieder zurückhaltend - Langsam. Misterioso

Track length34:37

Album only

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Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony started life as a single-movement tone poem called Todtenfeier(‘Funeral Rites’). Completed in 1888 – one year before Richard Strauss's Death and Transfiguration –it echoed the composer's vision of seeing himself lying dead on a funeral bier surrounded by flowers. Deciding to use it as his opening movement, Mahler didn't finish the complete five-movement symphony until more than six years later, the longest time he spent on any work. The huge scale of the work apart, its weighty subject matter may well have contributed to the slow progress: Mahler himself outlined a scenario making references to the ultimate meaning of life and death (first movement), recollections of lost innocence and the desperation of unbelief (second and third movements), the return to naïve faith (fourth movement) and final redemption from the last judgement (finale).

To convey this he took recourse to the human voice: incorporating a solo alto in the 4th movement Urlicht, he went on in the finale to risk comparison with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony by introducing a choir, as well as soprano and alto soloists. Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä have received praise for their previous Mahler recordings (‘Vänskä and the orchestra are among the finest exponents of Mahler’s music...’, allmusic.com). The team is here joined by soloists Ruby Hughes and Sasha Cooke and the Minnesota Chorale in the deeply moving close to the vast and tumultuous panorama that is his Second Symphony.

Reviews

March 2019

Vänskä has very clear ideas of his own about Mahler...The disadvantage of that in this Resurrection comes, for me, very early on: after a swift, rather lightweight signing-in for fire and fury, the first movement’s initial glimpse of heaven almost grinds to a halt…On its return, the climbing theme is as beautifully pianissimo as you’ll ever hear on a recording; but the slow speed kills it.

March 2019

There’s much about Osmo Vänskä’s traversal of ‘Resurrection’ that’s highly commendable.

Classical CD Review February 2019

Vänskä’s commitment to the detail of these scores pays off, and, as in previous installments, the result is a richly variegated musical canvas.

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C Minor 'Resurrection'

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