Composer: Gustav Mahler
Performer: Mimi Coertse, Hilde Zadek, Lucretia West, Ira Malaniuk, Giuseppe Zampieri, Hermann Prey, Otto Edelmann, Wiener Sängerknaben, Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Singverein
Orchestra: Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor: Gustav Mahler
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Orfeo
Catalogue: C519992B
Release: 1966
Size: 202 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major “Symphony of a Thousand”
CD 01
01. I. Veni, creator spiritus. Veni, creator spiritus
CD 02
01. IIa. Final Scene from Faust. Poco adagio
02. IIb. Final Scene from Faust. Waldung, sie schwankt heran
03. IIc. Final Scene from Faust. Ewiger Wonnebrand
04. IId. Final Scene from Faust. Gerettet ist das edle Glied vom Bösen
05. IIe. Final Scene from Faust. Dir, der Unberührbaren
06. IIf. Final Scene from Faust. Bei der Liebe, die den Füßen
07. IIg. Final Scene from Faust. Neige, neige, du Ohnegleiche
08. IIh. Final Scene from Faust. Blicket auf zum Retterblick, alle reuig Zarten
09. IIi. Final Scene from Faust. Alles Vergängliche ist nur ein Gleichnis
After 1958 Dimitri Mitropoulos made guest appearances with the leading orchestras throughout U.S.A. and Europe. He died on November 2, 1960, during a La Scala rehearsal of Mahler’s Third, so this performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in August 1960 may well be the last he recorded. This CD is the first authorised release of his 1960 Salzburg Mahler Eighth live from the original Austrian Radio tape. It has the great interest of being the only testimony of the conductor who did not record this work commercially.
Dimitri Mitropoulos was a Mahler pioneer. Here is his famed Salzburg Eighth Symphony. Faustian striving and the conjuration of the ‘Creator Spiritus’ in ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ were obsessions of the conductor. His performance at the Salzburg Festival proved an overwhelming experience for all who were present, its poignancy enhanced by the fact that following his premature death it was his final concert in Salzburg. A memorable occasion recording a performance touched, especially in Part II, with true greatness. Also a fine memorial to an unduly neglected conductor who, on this night, had only weeks to live.