Claudio Abbado and his hand-picked players of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra took their acclaimed Mahler cycle to a new level with this audiovisual recording of the most complex and compelling of the symphonies, the intense, searching Ninth.
Abbado brought all his renowned clarity of vision and the experience of a lifetime to this contradictory music – half valedictory, half life-affirming – and his “orchestra of soloists”, including some of the leading instrumentalists of our time, revelled in the transparent textures and virtuosity of Mahler’s last completed symphony.
“A rendition … of astonishing depth and subtlety”. Daily Telegraph.
“Claudio Abbado: an interpretation of Mahler that is luminous, fluid and fabulous in its orchestral transparency. His interpretations are gaining in clarity and spirituality: he has become a master of silence. With Abbado and Lucerne one is conscious of moments of timelessness.” Le Figaro
“The listener is rendered speechless at the thrilling depth and perfection of the symbiosis achieved here between artistic wisdom and undimmed joy in making music at the highest level.” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
