BBC SSO 25-26: Mahler Symphony No.2 ‘Resurrection’

NO SECOND TAKES – EXPERIENCE IT LIVE

Mahler    Symphony No.2 ‘Resurrection’ (c.80 mins)  
  
Jennifer Davis soprano 
Karen Cargill mezzo-soprano 
Edinburgh Festival Chorus 
Donald Runnicles conductor
  
A man stands alone at the grave of a friend. Shattered by grief, he shakes his fist at the heavens and begins a journey that will take him to the end of the world and beyond. The sheer ambition of Gustav Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony staggers the imagination —an emotional odyssey on a cosmic scale, embracing tragedy, hope, dark humour, and even Judgement Day itself. Written for an immense orchestra of over 100 musicians, a magnificent chorus and two sublime soloists, every performance is a special occasion. 

But when the choir is the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, and the conductor is the BBC SSO’s Conductor Emeritus Sir Donald Runnicles—an artist with a lifetime’s experience in the music of Mahler—it’s fair to expect something truly extraordinary. In 1965, Runnicles sang Mahler with the Edinburgh Festival Chorus as a young boy. Now, he returns to lead that very same choir in one of the most powerful choral works ever written… A definite date for the calendar!