Mahler, Gustav - Symphony No. 6 - Kondrashin, Kyrill
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden- Baden und Freiburg
Kirill Kondrashin, conductor
It was only in the post-Stalinist period that Mahler's music began to receive performances in the former Soviet Union, and it was Kondrashin, amongst all the Soviet conductors, who led the way. In the same year that he gave the belated premiere of the Shostakovich 4th Symphony, he made the first Soviet-era recording of a Mahler Symphony, the Third. Kondrashin's Mahler was truly "Russian" in its whiplash orchestral discipline and scorching excitement, but it also was informed by a keen structural awareness and shapeliness of line. Kondrashin's interpretations are characterized by great urgency, an emotional state that perfectly compliments the complex musical canvas of Mahler's vast Sixth Symphony. The Symphony No. 6 in A minor by Gustav Mahler, sometimes referred to as the Tragische ("Tragic"), was composed between 1903 and 1904 (rev. 1906). The tragic ending of No. 6 has been seen - by application of the 3 hollow hammer resounds in the Finale - according to the words by Alma, as an anticipation of the 3 serious strokes of fate following in his life 3 years later: The death of his oldest daughter, his demission by the Wiener Hofoper caused by intrigue and the diagnose of his incurable heart disease. This is a recording that will be eagerly sought out by Mahler enthusiasts around the globe - not only for historic value,but as a document of one of Mahler's most innovative and courageous.