88 minutes of Abbado making time itself stop.
The charismatic and inspiring Claudio Abbado and the magnificent mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená, with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, hold the audience spellbound in this live recording from Lucerne Festival in Summer. Mahler’s five Rückert-Lieder – in a profoundly moving and rapturously received performance – precede Mahler’s sublime and deeply personal Fourth Symphony. This extraordinary work is executed with power, passion and sensitivity, with Magdalena Kožená giving a transcendent rendition of the final movement.
Direction
Abbado's final recorded Mahler — every gesture freighted with meaning.
Acting
Kožená's 'Das irdische Leben' — technically perfect, emotionally devastating.
Cinematography
Close-ups catching Abbado's frailty and fire, orchestra as living organism.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Abbado had already survived two cancers; this 2009 performance carries the weight of someone who knew these songs of departure intimately.
The Lucerne Festival Orchestra was Abbado's hand-picked dream team — no weak links, every principal a soloist in disguise.
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