Mahler’s Second - InstantEncore

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Mahler Symphony #2

I remember a time many years ago, when I was on vacation in London. And I went to a concert by the London Philharmonic, where I heard the Mahler Second for the first time. I bet there are many of you out there, who can recall when you experience a particularly moving musical composition for the first time. Last night I heard it again, although this time through the magic of the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall.

On this new CD, we get a performance by an amazing authority on Mahler’s music, conductor Bernard Haitink.

The anniversary of the destruction of the city of Dresden was annually marked until February 13, 1995 with the performance of a requiem. For the 50th anniversary of that terrible day, however, conductor Bernard Haitink presented Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony “Resurrection” in the conviction that it is perhaps the only work in the symphonic repertoire that might do justice to the spirit of the day. In this, the live recording, the listener can sense something of the special atmosphere that prevailed at that concert.

Mahler:

Symphony No. 2 in C minor ‘Resurrection’

Performed by Charlotte Margiono (soprano) & Jard van Nes (alto), with the
Chor der Sächsischen Staatsoper Dresden, Sinfoniechor Dresden and the Staatskapelle Dresden, conducted by Bernard Haitink

The individual movements are:

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C minor, “Resurrection”

I. Allegro maestoso
II. Andante moderato
III. In ruhig fliessender Bewegung
IV. Urlicht: Sehr feierlich, aber schlicht
V. Finale: Im Tempo des Scherzos

Here is Haitink Conducting the Finale of Mahler’s second symphony; just listen to that grandeur!