Mahler: Symphony No. 6 (2008)

If a conductor and a piece of music can ever be said to be perfectly matched, then Valery Gergiev is ideally suited to direct Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6 in A minor, "Tragic." A work that calls for the brutally frank expressions, explosive sonorities, and vibrant colors that this Russian conductor specializes in, the Symphony No. 6 really achieves its full potential in this gut-wrenching performance with the London Symphony Orchestra. Rarely has a conductor reached such heights of ethereal beauty and depths of abject ... Read More

If a conductor and a piece of music can ever be said to be perfectly matched, then Valery Gergiev is ideally suited to direct Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6 in A minor, "Tragic." A work that calls for the brutally frank expressions, explosive sonorities, and vibrant colors that this Russian conductor specializes in, the Symphony No. 6 really achieves its full potential in this gut-wrenching performance with the London Symphony Orchestra. Rarely has a conductor reached such heights of ethereal beauty and depths of abject despair as Gergiev does here, and he inspires the orchestra to play as if everything in this concert performance depends on it; one can hardly believe this is the same polished orchestra that regularly turns out soundtracks and popular albums, so credible are the grim resolution, raw energy, and searing emotions displayed here. This recording has only one feature that might annoy some Mahler buffs, and that is the ordering of the inner movements: Gergiev takes the Andante moderato... Read Less