The audience knows that the performance of a Mahler symphony is not only a musical experience but is also emotionally effective' (Chailly). This counts especially for Mahler's enigmatic sixth symphony, an emotionally stirring challenge for both performers and listeners, while also one of the most impressive works in musical history. Chailly's interpretation with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is 'intensely great' (Die Presse). 'Chailly uncompromisingly considers this sixth symphony through the lens of modernity; looking forward, not retrospectively staying in late romantic. In this celebrated orchestra, all sections splendidly come together and fulfill an 'open' sound, conserving whilst respecting its original beauty' (Salzburger Nachrichten).

As Riccardo Chailly points out, "The Fifth begins with a dark, gloomy, and tragic tone, but then is enlivened in the Scherzo and Adagietto, and eventually ends with a more positive character in the Finale perhaps for the last time in Mahler's life. The Adagietto is a revelation, a spiritual oasis. It is not an expression of pain, but rather Mahler's declaration of love to Alma a song without words." With the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Chailly gives the piece an unsurpassed intensity of sound and emotional expression. He achieves a compelling arc of tension in which the symphony's unique fascination unfolds. The Wiener Zeitung characterized Chailly's interpretation as "impressive with powerful and unreserved intensity."

Exactly one hundred and fifty years after the birth of the brilliant composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, a select band of artists gathered in his birthplace, Kaliste, to honour his creative talent in a very special way. Under the direction of the Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck and accompanied by the internationally acclaimed Mahler Chamber Orchestra, three world-famous soloists came to pay tribute to Mahler at a gala concert: Thomas Hampson, Anne Sofie von Otter and Marita Solberg. The result was an unforgettable summer evening of classical music made up of outstanding excerpts from Mahler's Second Symphony and his best-known orchestral songs, performed on an impressive open-air stage against the backdrop of an idyllic natural setting - it was, in short, a worthy tribute to the great Gustav Mahler.

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 [Gewandhausorchester Leipzig; Riccardo Chailly]