Death -- both abstract and real -- appears to be the subject of this double-disc set from Profil, not only because the featured works are based on that subject, but also because the recordings themselves are presented as a memorial. Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 9 in D major is regarded as one of his most death-obsessed works (along with his Kindertotenlieder, the Symphony No. 6, and Das Lied von der Erde), and its pairing with Richard Strauss' Tod und Verklärung lends this 2007 release a serious tone that some will take as ...
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Death -- both abstract and real -- appears to be the subject of this double-disc set from Profil, not only because the featured works are based on that subject, but also because the recordings themselves are presented as a memorial. Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 9 in D major is regarded as one of his most death-obsessed works (along with his Kindertotenlieder, the Symphony No. 6, and Das Lied von der Erde), and its pairing with Richard Strauss' Tod und Verklärung lends this 2007 release a serious tone that some will take as somber, even morbid, while others will find it thought-provoking and quite appropriate. Add to this the label's salute to conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli, who died suddenly on April 20, 2001, just three months after recording Tod und Verklärung, and the package may seem almost depressing. But that's not what comes across in Sinopoli's lyrical performances, which pulse with life and color, and ebb and flow with many other emotions than those associated with death. Indeed, Sinopoli's...
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