Gary Bertini, the conductor on this album, was born in Bessarabia (now Moldavia) in 1927 and began learning the violin after being transported to Palestine as a child.
Performer Biography
Gary Bertini studied composition with notable figures like Honegger, Messiaen, and Nadia Boulanger at the Paris Conservatoire and École Normale de Musique.
Cultural Impact
The Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony gained popularity through Luchino Visconti's film adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella "Death in Venice."
Performer Biography
Gary Bertini founded and conducted the Rinat Choir, which later became the Israel Chamber Choir, and also founded the Israel Chamber Ensemble, which functioned as both an orchestra and an opera group.
Compositional Technique
Mahler considered the Scherzo of his Fifth Symphony a "damned movement" that would have a "long history of suffering" for audiences.
Recording & Production
This recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 5 was made on March 20, 1981, at the Liederhalle in Stuttgart with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra of the SWR.
Composition History
Mahler almost died in February 1901 from a hemorrhage, but later that year met Alma, whom he married less than four months later, during the period he was composing this symphony.
