Mahler: Symphony No.6
classical CD · categorised by title
RRP £14.50 historic list price — see live Amazon pricing below
- Performers
- Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Simon Rattle
- Label
- BR Klassik
- Barcode
- 4035719002171
Among Simon Rattle's first concert programmes as the new chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was Gustav Mahler's Sixth Symphony. The performances marked the beginning of a new chapter in Mahler interpretation, for Rattle, like his predecessors Jansons, Maazel and Kubelik, is an ardent admirer of the composer. BR-KLASSIK has now released the live recording of the concerts. Gustav Mahler's Sixth Symphony is perhaps the darkest work he ever wrote - its nickname is "The Tragic". And there is something almost destructive about the final movement. "But strangely enough," says Simon Rattle, "it is also a very classical symphony. Yes, it is extreme, but for long stretches it is less wild than other works of his - although of course it does convey a harrowing message. But it's like a lot of great works: there are always different ways of reading them. I've been conducting the Sixth for forty years now, and over time I've come to realise that it also contains hope." Mahler composed his Sixth Symphony during the summers of 1903 and 1904 at his "composer's cottage" in Maiernigg, near Klagenfurt. At the Vienna performance in 1907 (the third under his baton), he called it the "Tragic Symphony" - a nickname that soon became the stuff of legend. In particular, the darkness and devastating hopelessness of the finale - written at a time when he was at the high point of his life, both professionally and personally - are puzzling. Even his wife Alma could not quite explain t
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Details
- Classical Music
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