Gustav Mahler was not yet thirty when he tried to come to terms with his own mortality by means of symphonic means. His Second Symphony looks like an archaic book of the dead, as shown by the way in which Mahler paints the stages from 'Tod' to 'Verklärung'. Interesting is the way in which Mahler manages to adhere to the Christian symbolic language, although his agnostic imagination has long passed
… traditional Christianity. The Symphony may end with an apocalyptic blaring of horns, but there is no focus. No one is considered a sinner, because there is no reward and no punishment. With the Concertgebouworkest, Chailly was allowed to continue the Mahler tradition for a while, as it was started by Mengelberg and Haitink. Chailly's integral cycle for Decca was described by The Penguin Guide as a 'strong, satisfying overall approach to Mahler '. Here we hear and see Chailly during the 2011 Mahler commemoration from the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. (HJ)more
