Mahler: Symphony No. 9

This captures much of the peerless tone-colour, shape, drive and above all those hushed dynamics of [the] performance, awarded what feels like an infinite silence at the end...Abbado's pacing... — BBC Music Magazine, June 2011, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 31st Jan 2011
Catalogue No: ACC20214
Label: Accentus Music

Gramophone Awards

2011

Finalist - DVD Performance
Gramophone Magazine

June 2011

DVD of the Month
BBC Music Magazine Awards

2012

DVD Award Winner

Mahler: Symphony No. 9

Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Claudio Abbado

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Obituary, Claudio Abbado, 1933-2014

20th January 2014

Claudio Abbado and his hand-picked players of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra take their acclaimed Mahler cycle to a new level with this performance of the most complex and compelling of the symphonies, the intense, searching Ninth. Abbado brings all his renowned clarity of vision and the experience of a lifetime to this contradictory music – half valedictory, half life-affirming – and his “orchestra of soloists”, including some of the leading instrumentalists of our time, revels in the transparent textures and virtuosity of Mahler’s last completed symphony. “A rendition ... of astonishing depth and subtlety” (Daily Telegraph).

“The listener is rendered speechless at the thrilling depth and perfection of the symbiosis achieved here between artistic wisdom and undimmed joy in making music at the highest level.” Christian Wildhagen, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 24, 2010

“[...]sensitizing feelings, penetrating into the depths of perception like a kind of perfectly-tuned ear on the world, to yield the most beautiful results in the music.” Claus Spahn, ZEIT Online. Musik, August 12, 2010

BONUS: Conductor Camera (Andante comodo)

Picture Format DVD: NTSC 16:9

Sound Formats DVD: Dolby Digital 5.1., DTS 5.1, PCM Stereo

Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

Running Time: 94:56

Disc Format: DVD 9

FSK: 0

Reviews

June 2011

This captures much of the peerless tone-colour, shape, drive and above all those hushed dynamics of [the] performance, awarded what feels like an infinite silence at the end...Abbado's pacing is unrivalled...the mixture of close-ups and wide shots in the final rituals is superb as ever from this team. Finest concert DVD ever? I think so.

14th May 2011

this DVD of last summer’s fabulously fluid performance with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra is an important release. First, it brings together a peerless Mahler conductor with a hand-picked ensemble of huge individual talent. Second, it documents Abbado’s increasingly spiritual way with the music, the valedictory silences as much as the life-affirming vigour.

June 2011

This, his first commercial recording of the work, is even more luminous, elegant and subtly integrated than its predecessors...An interpretation that might seem too cool is in fact superbly gauged to provide maximal catharsis by the close...When the music finally ends and, as in any truly great account of this highly affecting score, one feels that life itself is ebbing away, all present are held in awed silence.

April 2011

This is a mind-blowing experience - a Mahler Ninth as great as any I've heard...There are no idiosyncracies in Abbado's approach, but instead there is an unerring sense of musical trajectory...the playing has a richness and expressive depth all the more telling for Abbado's wonderful sense of flexibility - really letting his orchestra play - and the vibrant transparency of the sound..the playing has an eloquence, intensity and utter beauty is simply overwhelming

14th December 2011

This really is something special, and one of the few classical orchestral DVDs which I’ve watched repeatedly. Abbado’s performance is remarkable. It’s not just the pin-sharp orchestral playing from the hand-picked orchestra, but the effortless ease with which this piece unfurls.

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Mahler: Symphony No. 9

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Obituary, Claudio Abbado, 1933-2014

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