Pre-Order: Orchestre National De France - Mahler: Sym No. 2 Resurrection [CD]

(summary)In October 2024, the Orchestre National de France under the baton of music director Cristian Macelaru,immersed itself in one of the great symphonic works of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): his extraordinaryResurrection Symphony. On this new recording, the epic journey unfolds serenely, bathed in warm pastoralcolours.(complete blurb)Over two evenings on 24 and 25 October 2024, the Orchestre National de France under it's music directorCristian Macelaru immersed themselves in the extraordinary symphonic epic that Gustav Mahler wrote inthe 1890s: his utterly unrestrained Symphony No. 2, the Resurrection. What a baptism of fire! The Romanianconductor, not known for his Mahler until now, boldly takes up, in Paris, the very same score that thelegendary Leonard Bernstein conducted at his first great Parisian triumph on 13 November 1958-which as ithappens was also with the Orchestre National.More than 70 years after Bernstein, Cristian Macelaru offers a vision that is the complete opposite, with achamber-like approach of delicacy and pastoral warmth, in contrast to his illustrious predecessor'sgrandiose and solemn take. The textures are therefore amazingly light: the magnificent transparency of thestrings is answered by woodwinds brimming with freshness, discreetly revealing the roots of a composerborn not far from Prague who was passionately drawn to new sonorities and unexpected instrumentalblends. Under the Romanian conductor's direction, joined here by the luminous soprano of Hanna-ElisabethMuller and the amber-toned mezzo of Karen Cargill, the passionate journey of Resurrection becomes one ofprofound serenity. The architecture of the work remains consistently natural and supple, and the symphonyfinds it's unity effortlessly despite the remarkable diversity of soundscapes of which it is made.It was in 1888 that Gustav Mahler first conceived the large-scale symphonic piece he called Todtenfeier(Funeral Rites), in which he portrays, from the height of a steep promontory, the entire life of the hero of hisFirst Symphony, the Titan. Slightly revised, this became the introductory Allegro maestoso of the SecondSymphony, to which Mahler later added four more movements. The second takes the form of a shimmeringLandler, deceptively gracious, with interwoven motifs. The third is a scherzo based on his song DesAntonius von Padua Fischpredigt ('St. Anthony of Padua preaching to the fishes', No. 6 from Des KnabenWunderhorn). For the fourth movement, the composer draws on another song from Des KnabenWunderhorn, No. 12, Urlicht ('Primeval Light'), preserving the vocal line while altering some of theorchestration and harmonic progressions. Gustav Mahler searched a long time for inspiration for the Finale,finding it eventually while listening to a choir sing a hymn during the funeral of the great conductor Hans vonBulow. The hymn was based on words by the poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, and Mahler resolved thenand there to conclude his work with this hymn to resurrection, supplementing Klopstock's text with severalverses of his own. Overall, then, Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 opens with a meditation on death, andmoves steadily through earthly life in all it's tenderness and irony to a proclamation of faith in theresurrection-the sole subject of the Finale-in which soloists, chorus and orchestra come together in aglorious gesture of reconciliation.