For the fourth volume in their complete recording cycle of Mahler’s symphonies on Alpha Classics, Paavo Järvi and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich turn to the monumental Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.”
“Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 is a gigantic work — both in substance and in scale,” says Paavo Järvi. Spanning five movements and scored for a colossal orchestra, this performance also features the Zürcher Sing-Akademie and soloists Mari Eriksmoen and Anna Lucia Richter.
Mahler completed the symphony in 1894, after more than six years of work. Although he was already regarded as a great conductor, this was a difficult period in his life. He had lost his father, mother, and sister Leopoldine in quick succession, suddenly finding himself responsible for his remaining siblings. His First Symphony had not been well received, and he had also become the target of an antisemitic press campaign in Budapest, where he had served as director of the Royal Opera from 1888 to 1891.
In a letter from 1896, Mahler reflected: “When you wake from this melancholy dream and have to return to life and its chaos, it can easily happen that this ceaselessly moving, never resting and always incomprehensible bustle of life becomes horrifying to you…”
In the video series Minding Mahler’s Business, Paavo Järvi sits down with members of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich for candid discussions about performing individual works in the cycle.
International tour dates:
21 NOV Mahler 5 | Baden-Baden Festspielhaus | Baden-Baden, DE
22 NOV Mahler 6 | Baden-Baden Festspielhaus | Baden-Baden, DE
24 NOV Mahler 6 | Concertgebouw | Amsterdam, NL
25 NOV Mahler 5 | Elbphilharmonie | Hamburg, DE
26 NOV Mahler 6 | Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, DE
28 NOV Mahler 6 | Konzerthaus, Wien, AT