The All-Star... - Gerhard Schwarz/Prog. 7&8 - Naxos Deutschland

The All-Star Orchestra gives you a front row seat to the world's greatest music, performed by top players chosen from over 30 great American orchestras, and conducted by Gerard Schwarz. The programs feature complete performances of popular masterpieces and world premieres of new works by leading American composers. Filmed in High-Definition with 19 cameras during a once-a-year 'summit' in New York's historic Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center, the All-Star Orchestra celebrates the symphonic experience in the 21st century.

Program 7: "Music's Emotional Impact"
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
David Stock: Blast!
This program delves into Tchaikovsky's dramatic personal life, his brief marriage, and his intense correspondence with his patroness Nadethda von Meck, whom he never met, and to whom he dedicated his 4th Symphony. The dramatic brass fanfares that for Tchaikovsky symbolized Fate find a modern echo in David Stock's Blast!

Program 8: "Mahler: Love, Sorrow and Transcendence"
Gustav Mahler: Rückert-Lieder (Songs from Latter Days - selections)
Soloist: Nancy Maultsby, mezzo-soprano
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection': 1st Movement
Augusta Read Thomas: Of Paradise and Light
Bernard Rands: Adieu
Mahler's turbulent passions are expressed through his music. His settings of poems by Friedrich Rückert explore themes of love, nature, and otherworldliness. Mahler was haunted throughout his life by the premonition of his own death. The first movement of his 2nd Symphony, which Mahler called 'Totenfeier' ('Funerary Rites'), draws star contrasts between the composer's permonition of doom, and his vision of life. Modern reflections on these themes can be found in Adiue by Bernard Rands and Of Paradise and Light by Augusta Read Thomas.