Mahler: Symphony No. 6 (2005)

Since Gustav Mahler himself changed his mind about the order of movements in his Sixth Symphony, why shouldn't Claudio Abbado? Mahler composed and published the Sixth with the inner movements in one order but premiered and continued to perform it in another order. The Sixth was performed in the order Mahler composed it for 70 years, but with new evidence that Mahler intended to publish a second edition with the inner movements in their revised order, conductors have begun performing the Sixth in what has come to be regarded ... Read More

Since Gustav Mahler himself changed his mind about the order of movements in his Sixth Symphony, why shouldn't Claudio Abbado? Mahler composed and published the Sixth with the inner movements in one order but premiered and continued to perform it in another order. The Sixth was performed in the order Mahler composed it for 70 years, but with new evidence that Mahler intended to publish a second edition with the inner movements in their revised order, conductors have begun performing the Sixth in what has come to be regarded as its final form. So if Abbado has been conducting the Sixth in its composed form since his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic at the 1967 Salzburg Festival, he has the right to change his mind and conduct the work in its final form with the Berlin Philharmonic in June 2004 at his first concert with the ensemble since his departure two years earlier. In changing his mind, Abbado perforce had to reconsider his approach to the Sixth. As always, Abbado's outer movements are the... Read Less