Mahler : Symphony 8 (Live 1960, Salzburg)

Album review

After 1958 Dimitri Mitropoulos made guest appearances with the leading orchestras throughout U.S.A. and Europe. He died on November 2, 1960, during a La Scala rehearsal of Mahler's Third, so this performance of Mahler's Eighth Symphony in August 1960 may well be the last he recorded. This CD is the first authorised release of his 1960 Salzburg Mahler Eighth live from the original Austrian Radio tape. It has the great interest of being the only testimony of the conductor who did not record this work commercially.
Dimitri Mitropoulos was a Mahler pioneer. Here is his famed Salzburg Eighth Symphony. Faustian striving and the conjuration of the ‘Creator Spiritus’ in 'Symphony of a Thousand’ were obsessions of the conductor. His performance at the Salzburg Festival proved an overwhelming experience for all who were present, its poignancy enhanced by the fact that following his premature death it was his final concert in Salzburg. A memorable occasion recording a performance touched, especially in Part II, with true greatness. Also a fine memorial to an unduly neglected conductor who, on this night, had only weeks to live.

NOTA : Orfeo credits the Wiener Philharmoniker and the "Konzertvereinigung" of the Wiener Staatsopernchor, in the context of the Salzburg Festival — the other versions credit the Vienna Festival Orchestra and Chorus (Wiener Festspielorchester, Wiener Festspielchor), so in the context of the Vienna Festival...

Details of the original recording : Recorded live mono by the Österreichischer Rundfunk, Salzburg Festival 28 August 1960, Felsenreitschule, Salzburg (Austria)