Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand" (Live)

Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä

Paru le 1/12/23 chez BIS
Artistes principaux : Minnesota Orchestra Osmo Vänskä
Genre : Classique

Livret numérique

Disponible en

24-Bit/96 kHz Stereo

Musique illimitée

Écoutez cet album en haute-qualité dès maintenant dans nos applications

Démarrer ma période d'essai et lancer l'écoute de cet album

Profitez de cet album sur les apps Qobuz grâce à votre abonnement

Souscrire

Profitez de cet album sur les apps Qobuz grâce à votre abonnement

Téléchargement digital

Téléchargez cet album dans la qualité de votre choix

Opinions on conductor Osma Vänskä's cycle of Mahler symphonies with the Minnesota Orchestra have varied, but with this grand finale, taken from his valedictory appearance with the orchestra, he seems to have let his hair down a bit, with satisfying effect. Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in E flat major ("Symphony of a Thousand") is itself a work that divides listeners, with some sympathetic to the composer's grand ambitions and others finding it over the top, with its four choirs, 24 brass, its Christian first half from the Jewish composer, and its Faustian paean to the eternal feminine for a finale. A lot can go wrong in performing it, and here, in this 2022 recording, a lot did. Minneapolis was still under COVID mask restrictions when the performances were given, and the choral singers (not quite a thousand, but numerous enough) wore them and were exhorted to enunciate to the maximum. The originally booked first soprano contracted the disease and was replaced at the last minute by Carolyn Sampson, taking both soprano parts (which is, it is true, done often enough). Vänskä rises above the problems with a performance that even skeptics will find exciting. He balances the tremendously diverse forces beautifully, and each of the two sections builds, in Vänskä's fast but not rushed tempos that bring the symphony in at five minutes quicker than average, to convincing conclusions. The final sections are ecstatic, and all the soloists hold their complex interactions together. Sampson emerges as the star of the show; she is one of the most versatile sopranos on the scene, and she is not known much in music of this heft, but she sounds great. Vänskä, as elsewhere in this series, gets fabulous support from BIS engineers; one hears everything, and one often has the sensation of being right in the middle of the vast, churning music. The audio product is an unusual one, assembled from live performances at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and later ones in the studio, but the BIS staff sweats these details, and it is a challenge to hear any joints or manipulations. This is indeed a landmark Minnesota Orchestra recording and one that leaves the group well-positioned for whatever comes next. It landed on classical best-seller charts at the end of 2023.

© James Manheim /TiVo

Plus d'informations

Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand" (Live)

Minnesota Orchestra

Vous êtes actuellement en train d’écouter des extraits.

Écoutez plus de 100 millions de titres avec votre abonnement illimité.

Écoutez cette playlist et plus de 100 millions de titres avec votre abonnement illimité.

À partir de 12,49€/mois

Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand": Ia. Veni, Creator Spiritus (Live)