MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA RELEASES RECORDING
OF MAHLER’S TENTH SYMPHONY
BIS Records and the Minnesota Orchestra release seventh disc
in Mahler symphonies recording project
Minnesota Orchestra’s newest album in the ongoing Gustav Mahler symphonies recording series is Mahler’s Tenth Symphony, recorded at Orchestra Hall in June 2019 by Swedish label BIS Records. The album will be released worldwide on Friday, February 5, 2021, and will be available for advance purchase on Monday, February 1, 2021, on the Minnesota Orchestra’s website, minnesotaorchestra.org. The first 250 copies purchased through the Orchestra online will be signed by Music Director Osmo Vänskä.
Mahler’s Tenth Symphony, left unfinished at his death but subsequently completed in this performance version by Deryck Cooke, follows the composer’s philosophy that a symphony “must embrace everything”—from anguish to exuberance and serenity. An autobiographical work of extraordinary turmoil and beauty, the Tenth Symphony includes a wide-ranging Adagio that builds to a nightmarish dissonance, a brief “Purgatorio” composed after Mahler discovered his wife Alma’s affair, and a tender finale that shows the composer’s undimmed love for Alma.
This is the seventh album in the Orchestra’s project to record and release the Mahler symphonies. It was recorded in June 2019 at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis and was conducted by Music Director Osmo Vänskä. The Orchestra’s recording of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony received a 2018 Grammy nomination for Best Orchestral Performance. Mr. Vänskä and the Orchestra have also released acclaimed recordings of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony; Second Symphony, Resurrection; First Symphony, Titan; Fourth Symphony and Seventh Symphony.