Jaap van Zweden, the conductor of this recording, is also Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and was named Musical America's 2012 Conductor of the Year.
Composition History
Mahler's Third Symphony was conceived as a 'world building' project, with the composer stating that 'symphony' meant to him 'building a world with all the resources of the available techniques.'
Composition History
By the time of its full premiere in 1902, Mahler, having turned against program music, deleted all explanatory titles and descriptions from the Third Symphony, letting the music speak for itself.
Performer Biography
Kelley O'Connor, the mezzo-soprano on this album, is a GRAMMY® Award-winning artist known for her musical sophistication and dramatic artistry.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Gustav Mahler, the composer, intended his Third Symphony to represent nature in its totality, encompassing everything from the frightful to the lovely, and even the god Dionysus and the great Pan.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Mahler, a confirmed Wagnerian, initially conceived the Third Symphony with a narrative framework, including titles for each of its seven sections, reflecting 'stages of being' from the primordial to the celestial.
Composer Biography
Gustav Mahler composed the majority of his Third Symphony during his summer vacations in Steinbach am Attersee, an Austrian village, working in a remote shed for optimal solitude.
