Dmitry Shostakovich; Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 10

Description

These two Tenth Symphonies represent powerful statements by composers undergoing the greatest of crises in their eventful lives. Gustav Mahler’s last and incomplete symphony was kept a secret by his widow Alma for many years after his death, the desperate scrawl of ‘Almschi!’ on its final page an outburst at her betrayal of their marriage. Shostakovich’s intense and deeply symbolic Symphony No. 10, considered by many to be his finest, was kept hidden by the composer for fear of Soviet reprisals, and was only performed after Stalin’s death in 1953. As far as Naxos is aware, Mahler’s and Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphonies are appearing here for the first time together on one disc. This version of Mahler’s Tenth is also a premiere, recorded in its earliest incarnation as written in fair copy by Ernst Krenek and adapted by conductor Willem Mengelberg, one of Mahler’s most loyal and insightful champions. Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony is justly famous and has been widely recorded but again, collectors will be very keen indeed to hear how it sounds with the fabulous Hong Kong Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden.