Organization

Conductor

Leonard Bernstein

Singer

Soprano

Judith Blegen

Soprano 1

Edda Moser

Soprano 2

Mezzo-soprano

Agnes Baltsa

Mezzo 1

Tenor

Kenneth Riegel

Baritone

Hermann Prey

Bass

José van Dam

Others

Wiener Singverein

Orchestra

Wiener Philharmoniker

Chor der Wiener Staatsoper

Wiener Konzerthaus

Bernstein conducts Mahler: Symphony No. 8

Vienna

Austria

The Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) brought the traditional genre of the symphony into the 20th century. Today his works form the standard repertoire of every major orchestra. The Eighth is one of the largest scored works in music history and its bombastic effect is comparable to Arnold Schönberg's Gurre-Lieder, which were written around the same time.
"It's the greatest thing I've done up to now. And so peculiar in content and form that it's impossible to write about it. Just imagine that the universe begins to sound and sound. They are no longer human voices, but planets and suns circling" (Gustav Mahler).
Mahler's 8th Symphony was written in 1906 and premiered in Munich in 1910 with triumphant success. Here it also received its nickname "Symphony of a Thousand", because under the direction of the composer 1030 people took part in this sung symphony cantata.
The 8th symphony was the first work by Mahler to bring him great success during his lifetime. The special reputation of the symphony was primarily shaped by the unique combination of the Latin Whitsun hymn "Veni, creator spiritus" with the final scene from Goethe's "Faust II". They give rise to the peculiar character of the work somewhere between symphony, oratorio, musical drama and the mystery of redemption.
Leonard Bernstein performed the Eighth Symphony at the 1975 Salzburg Festival and then at the Vienna Konzerthaus, where this recording was made. For this purpose, the stage of the concert hall had to be enlarged to create space for the unusually large orchestra, the two choirs, the children's choir and the soloists.
Bernstein was the first conductor to record all of Gustav Mahler's symphonies not only on disc but also on video. The Mahler cycle, realized between 1971 and 1985 for the most part with the Vienna Philharmonic, was the first project in Leonard Bernstein's twenty-year collaboration with Unitel. Bernstein's recordings of all Mahler symphonies are not only a unique musical document, but they also contributed to a new understanding of Mahler's work.
"All Mahler symphonies, all Mahler works by the way, are full of extremes. Extremes in dynamics, in tempo, in emotional meaning. If the music is bare, then it is very bare; if it is dense and powerful, it is denser and more powerful than the Götterdämmerung as a whole; when it suffers, it suffers as has never been suffered in music." (Leonard Bernstein)

Großer Saal

Public

Symphony 8

Approved

Wiener Philharmoniker / Bernstein: 8. Sinfonie Mahler

English

Leonard Bernstein dirigiert Mahlers gewaltige Symphonie Nr. 8 in einer Aufführung aus dem Wiener Konzerthaus, dessen Bühne vergrößert werden musste, um die Besetzung unterzubringen: acht Solisten, zwei Chöre, ein Kinderchor und ein erweitertes Orchester. Die Aufführung aus dem Jahr 1975, die auf Bernsteins Darbietung der Symphonie bei den Salzburger Festspielen folgte, zeigt den wohl größten Mahler-Dirigenten seiner Zeit in einer einzigartigen Aufnahme, inspiriert und leidenschaftlich in einem Werk voller Extreme – ein unvergesslicher Moment.

Solist:innen: Agnes Baltsa (Mezzosopran), Judith Blegen (Sopran), José van Dam (Bass), Edda Moser (Sopran), Hermann Prey (Bariton), Kenneth Riegel (Tenor), Gerti Zeumer (Sopran)
Ensembles: Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Singverein, Vienna Boys Choir
Dirigent:in: Leonard Bernstein

Deutsch

20世紀最高の指揮者の一人であり、圧倒的な存在感を放つレナード・バーンスタイン。彼はグスタフ・マーラーの作品に対して強い想いとこだわりを持っていました。現在マーラーの作品が多くのオーケストラによって演奏されるのはバーンスタインの功績でもあります。 本映像では《千人の交響曲》という通称でも知られる、カンタータ的な性格を持つ交響曲第8番で、バーンスタイン渾身の指揮、アグネス・バルツァやヘルマン・プライといった名歌手の歌唱をご覧いただけます。オーケストラ、合唱の輝かしい音色も圧巻です。

ソリスト: ジョゼ・ヴァン・ダム (バス)、ゲルティ・ツォイマー (ソプラノ)、アグネス・バルツァ (メゾソプラノ)、ヘルマン・プライ (バリトン)、ジュディス・ブレゲン (ソプラノ)、エッダ・モーザー (ソプラノ)、ケネス・リーゲル (テノール)
演奏: ウィーン国立歌劇場合唱団、ウィーン・フィルハーモニー管弦楽団、ウィーン楽友協会合唱団、ウィーン少年合唱団
指揮: レナード・バーンスタイン

日本語

Bernstein conducts Mahler: Symphony No. 8 by Mahler, From (1975/1975), Conductor Leonard Bernstein, Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

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Ensemble

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