Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 Recording
The Grand Teton Music Festival is thrilled to release our latest album on Reference Recordings: Mahler: Symphony No. 5, available digitally worldwide now. Featuring Sir Donald Runnicles leading the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra in Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village, Wyoming, this release marks the Festival Orchestra’s second album for the label, following its acclaimed Beethoven Piano Concertos with Garrick Ohlsson. Hybrid SACDs with 5.1 surround & stereo available in early May!
listen now“Over the many years where it has been my privilege to be Music Director, the Grand Teton Music Festival has quietly yet assuredly established itself as one of the great American orchestras, nestled in the rarified beauty of the Teton Mountains. As we aspire to share the musical brilliance and versatility with the international world, may the release of the epic Fifth Symphony of Gustav Mahler burst upon the scene with the same joy and excitement that we experienced in performing this masterful work.” – Sir Donald Runnicles
Widely regarded as one of today’s pre-eminent interpreters of Mahler, Sir Donald Runnicles brings decades of experience, deep structural insight, and emotional clarity to this towering symphony. From the stark severity of the opening Trauermarsch to the radiant confidence of the final Rondo-Finale, the performance traces Mahler’s epic journey from darkness into light with unflinching intensity and luminous orchestral color.
Recorded in July 2024, the album captures the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra at the height of its summer residency – an ensemble of more than 250 elite musicians drawn from leading orchestras and institutions across North America and Europe, united annually under Runnicles’ artistic leadership. This recording features the celebrated hornist and brass pedagogue Gail Williams and preeminent trumpet player Thomas Hooten, leading the GTMF Festival Orchestra brass.
The natural acoustics of Walk Festival Hall, combined with Reference Recordings’ meticulous production values, result in a vivid, expansive soundstage available on Hybrid SACD discs (5.1 surround and stereo) in early May, as well as standard, high-resolution and Dolby Atmos digital formats on March 13.
reviews
“Runnicles forms part of the panalopy of recordings that are almost as ‘superhuman’ in their achievements as the symphonies themselves.” – Classical Music Daily
“Extremely well contoured and highly expressive” – Classical Music Sentinel
“What Runnicles and the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra offer here is an unapologetic Mahler Fifth, one that delves deeply into emotion without wallowing in it unduly, and one that takes the audience along on a spiritual journey…” – TransCentury
press
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Katy Salomon | Primo Artists | VP, Public Relations
katy@primoartists.com | 646.801.9406
