Essential Mahler for your library.
This superb film offers an in depth study of Mahler's 2nd Symphony from its conception to its completion. The involvement of a generous number of outstanding musicians and scholars (musicologists, philosophers, theologians) and the narration by Thomas Hampson beyond doubt recommend this DVD. The re-enactments of incidents in Mahler's life are carefully done, and the cinematography is stunningly beautiful. As a fan and student of the works of Mahler for over fifty years, I cannot recommend this film too highly. What this DVD lacks is the complete performance of the symphony in New York City's Riverside Church (perfect for this work visually and acoustically) by an orchestra of musicians especially brought together from the New York Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and other orchestras and assembled first-rate choruses from the NYC area. There are many passages excerpted as examples, but you will want to hear / see this...
Perfectly fulfilling ...
RENS' review of this exploration of Mahler's Second Symphony is right on the money.
The film is everything I had hoped for ... the nearly hour and a half flew right by, leaving me with new insights regarding this wonderful piece of music, as well as forever grateful for the experience of enjoying an art form such as this in its' ultimate expression.
It is a reminder to us of (1) how magnificent divinely inspired human creativity can be, and (2) how fortunate we are in this day and age to have such access to great classical music and opera.
Deliberate, thoughtful persuasion
First introduced to Mahler's Second 50 years ago, I still find it so powerfully affecting that I don't listen to it very often. Nevertheless, I want to introduce some friends to this music (and text), and this is probably the best way possible to do it. I don't see how the production values, the quality of the photography, etc., could be any better. One might fail to understand some of the commentary or even disagree with it, but it is all worth thinking about. I wish to express my thanks to the Dietrich Foundation for their financial backing and to Jason Starr for spending the money so beautifully and with so much love.
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