Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra & Klaus Mäkelä

• Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911): Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 1:
• 1 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 1: I. Veni, creator spiritus (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 01:25
• 2 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 1: II. Imple superna gratia (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 03:43
• 3 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 1: III. Infirma nostri corporis I – IV. Tempo I. Allegro, etwas hastig (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 03:59
• 4 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 1: V. Infirma nostri corporis II (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 03:00
• 5 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 1: VI. Accende lumen sensibus (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 05:29
• 6 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 1: VII. Qui Paraclitus diceris (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 02:49
• 7 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 1: VIII. Gloria sit Patri Domino (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 03:09
• Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2:
• 8 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: I. Poco adagio (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 06:20
• 9 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: II. Più mosso. Allegro moderato (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 03:16
• 10 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: III. Waldung, sie schwankt heran (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 04:14
• 11 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: IV. Ewiger Wonnebrand (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 01:30
• 12 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: V. Wie Felsenabgrund mir zu Füssen (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 04:22
• 13 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: VI. Gerettet ist das edle Glied (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 00:57
• 14 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: VII. Jene Rosen, aus den Händen (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 02:08
• 15 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: VIII. Uns bleibt ein Erdenrest (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 01:51
• 16 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: IX. Ich spür' soeben – X. Höchste Herrscherin der Welt (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 05:32
• 17 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: XI. Dir, der Unberührbaren (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 03:29
• 18 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: XII. Bei der Liebe, die den Fussen – XIII. Neige, neige, du Ohnegleiche (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 05:57
• 19 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: XIV. Er überwächst uns schon – XVa. Komm! hebe dich zu höhern Sphären (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 04:21
• 20 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: XVb. Blicket auf zum Retterblick (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 06:07
• 21 Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major "Symphony of a Thousand", Pt. 2: XVI. Alles Vergängliche (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025) 05:36
• Total Runtime 01:19:14

Info for Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (Live at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, May 2025)

Decca Classics will release the live recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, performed by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Klaus Mäkelä during the 2025 Mahler Festival in Amsterdam. The recording, captured live in May 2025.

"Conducting Mahler's Eighth was one of the great moments of my life, which I will remember forever. I feel those two performances really carried a very special momentum for everyone involved. I certainly felt it on stage and hopefully it was also felt in the audience." (Klaus Mäkelä)

Gustav Mahler’s close connection with the Concertgebouw Orchestra began in 1903, when chief conductor Willem Mengelberg invited him to conduct his Third Symphony in Amsterdam. The composer and conductor returned several times in the ensuing years. Since then, the orchestra has become internationally renowned for its performances of Mahler’s music, a tradition continued by each of Mengelberg’s successors, Eduard van Beinum, Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Mariss Jansons and Daniele Gatti. As chief conductor designate, Klaus Mäkelä is carrying on this rich Mahler tradition.

‘Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound. There are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving,’ wrote Gustav Mahler on August 18, 1906, to his friend Willem Mengelberg (chief conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra between 1895 and 1945). A few days earlier, Mahler had completed his sketch of the Eighth Symphony in little more than three weeks. That was quite an achievement after the over-full 1906 concert season, commemorating the 150th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. In Vienna, Mahler had conducted five Mozart operas in succession. In between, he conducted a production of Wagner’s Lohengrin and went on concert tours to Antwerp, Amsterdam, Breslau, Berlin, Munich, and Essen, where his Sixth Symphony was premiered. In Graz, Mahler attended the Austrian premiere of Richard Strauss’s Salome. Mahler had hoped to conduct this opera in Vienna in 1905. But at the time, the censors balked, and Mahler threatened to resign, to no avail.

During his subsequent summer holiday in Maiernigg on the Wörthersee, Mahler found it hard to unwind. So, he immediately began working on a new symphony based on the ninth-century church hymn, Veni, creator spiritus. Mahler worked at such a frantic pace that he was halfway finished before realizing he did not know the complete text of the hymn and was unsure about the meaning of some passages. He called on the help of a friend, whose answers arrived by telegram. Another telegram arrived with an urgent request from the emperor to conduct the Marriage of Figaro at least once in Mozart’s birthplace, Salzburg. So, Mahler set off with a copy of Goethe’s Faust in his pocket. Composing went on as usual.

During those years, Mahler was at the peak of his physical and psychological prowess. It wasn’t until the summer of 1907 that disaster struck. Mahler’s oldest daughter died after an attack of scarlet fever combined with diphtheria. Shortly after that, Mahler was diagnosed with heart disease. With a little imagination, the Eighth Symphony might also be seen as foreshadowing the marital problems that afflicted the composer shortly before the first performance of this giant among symphonies. This hypothesis isn’t based on the predominantly enchanting music – there are, in fact, few genuinely loud moments in this composition – but in Mahler’s choice of texts: the hymn, Veni, creator spiritus and the final scene from Goethe’s Faust. Mahler dedicated the work to his loving wife, his ‘lieben Frau Alma Maria’. The sketches even state ‘for my Almschl, spiritus creator’. Creative spirit? For him, yes, but not for her. She had been forbidden from composing by her husband, although she was welcome to share in his successes.

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Klaus Mäkelä, conductor
Netherlands Radio Choir
Benjamin Goodson, choral conductor
Laurens Symfonisch
Wiecher Mandemaker, choral conductor
Le Chœur de l'Orchestre de Paris
Richard Wilberforce, choral conductor
National Children’s Choir
Irene Verburg, choral conductor
National Boy’s Choir
Irene Verburg, choral conductor
Hailey Clark, soprano (Magna Peccatrix)
Golda Schultz, soprano (Una poenitentium)
Miriam Kutrowatz, soprano (Mater gloriosa)
Jennifer Johnston, mezzo-soprano (Mulier Samaritan)
Okka von der Damerau, mezzo-soprano (Maria Aegyptiaca)
Giorgio Berrugi, tenor (Doctor Marianus)
Michael Nagy, baritone (Pater ecstaticus)
Tareq Nazmi, bass (Pater profundus)

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