Mahler: Symphony No. 10 in F sharp minor - Adagio

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony reach the culmination of their best-selling series of Mahler Symphonies with the Eighth, “Symphony of a Thousand”, coupled with the Adagio from Symphony No. 10.

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony reach the 11th instalment of their award-winning Mahler cycle with a live recording of the mighty Eighth Symphony, “Symphony of a Thousand”, coupled with the Adagio from Symphony No. 10. This release marks the culmination of their recordings of the complete Symphonies; future recordings rounding out the series will include Des Knaben Wunderhorn with baritone Thomas Hampson, Rückert Lieder with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, and Songs of a Wayfarer. One of the most notable recording projects of our time, the series has been a world-wide commercial and artistic success, selling over 100,000 CDs. Every release has entered the top 10 of the Billboard Classical Chart, and the series has garnered four Grammy® Awards, a Gramophone Award, and numerous other international citations. As with previous MTT/SFS Mahler releases, the recording utilises Sony’s Super Audio 5.1 digital surround technology and can be listened to on both traditional CD as well as SACD players. The cover art continues the highly recognizable series concept.

Beside his nine completed symphonies and Das Lied von der Erde, Mahler wrote three ‘freestanding’ symphonic movements: i) Blumine (‘Flower Piece’) – originally the second movement of an orchestral work that became the Symphony No 1; ii) Totenfeier (‘Funeral rites’), the original first movement of the Symphony No 2, described by the composer as the burial of the (probably autobiographical) hero of the preceding symphony, and iii) the Adagio planned as the first movement of his Symphony No 10. Mahler died in 1911, leaving only this and the short third movement in something approaching a performable state; the symphony was finally completed in 1960 by Deryck Cooke.

What The Wild Flowers Tell Me is Benjamin Britten’s arrangement, made in 1941, of the second movement of the Symphony No 3; his version preserves the essence of Mahler’s original, but in a practical version for reduced orchestra. At the time, Mahler’s symphonies were not a staple of the repertoire, and Britten – who felt a special affinity with the Austrian composer – was hoping to bring his work to a wider audience. Indeed, in 1967 Britten conducted the first modern performance of Blumine as an independent movement.

The validity of the approach that Paavo Järvi and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra take to Mahler was clearly proven at concerts in 2008:

“The wide gamut of articulation favoured by the Principal Conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra found optimum opportunities for deployment. What The Wild Flowers Tell Me showed the musicians, on stunning form, seamlessly following Järvi’s direction, with its emphasis on subtlety, aristocratic refinement and bucolic modesty.” Frankfurter Rundschau

“Gustav Mahler’s Totenfeier, which in its revised version became the first movement of his second symphony, is not a lament, but a ritual … Anyone who favours lush, Hollywood-style Mahler will not feel at home with Järvi and his orchestra; but anyone who wants to hear how this music works can expect a conclusive demonstration.” Frankfurter Rundschau

Paavo Järvi has made recordings of music by Nordic and Estonian composers for Virgin Classics and he conducts his Frankfurt orchestra in a forthcoming release of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No 2 with Nicholas Angelich.

"Valery Gergiev's Mahler cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra seems now to have found its identity and this thrilling account of the 'Resurrection' Symphony, heard on the second of two consecutive evening performances, bore many of the hallmarks that have distinguished the series so far: dramatic, driven and occasionally impatient. With the LSO on splendid form, producing a brilliant, bright sound that pushed the Barbican's close acoustic to its limits, Gergiev presided over a drama of despair and redemption of the greatest intensity…The LSO chorus was in glorious voice and egged on more and more by Gergiev they joined with the orchestra to produce an enormous, brilliant and overwhelming sound. The pure, visceral thrill of the final bars, greeted with an enthusiastic ovation from the packed audience, crowned a very fine performance of this great work." MusicalCriticsm.com

"Faced with the London Symphony Orchestra's concentrated glare and attack, I considered cowering under my seat" The Times