Mahler: Symphony 6 & Henze: Sebastian im Traum

Mariss Jansons joins one of the greatest Mahler traditions in the world of symphonic music with his first recording of a Mahler symphony with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

The relationship between Gustav Mahler and the Amsterdam orchestra goes back to 1903, when the composer conducted his Third Symphony with the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Mahler’s works have remained one of the fixed points — and famously so — of the programmes of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Conductor and musicians provide a superbly impressive performance on an extremely high level in this live performance of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, one of the greatest and most dramatic of Mahler’s works.

The recordings used in this release of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony were made during performances in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in the first weeks of the 2005-2006 season; these followed a tour of the great European concert halls in which the orchestra’s performances of the symphony had already made a great impression.

Mahler’s Sixth Symphony is followed by a recording of the world premiere of Hans Werner Henze’s Sebastian im Traum. Sebastian im Traum is a commission from the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Eduard van Beinum Stichting, the Tonhalle Gesellschaft Zürich and the New York Philharmonic.

Recorded live at Concertgebouw Amsterdam on 22 August and 7 and 8 September 2005 (Mahler) and 22 and 23 December 2005 (Henze).