Abbado conducts Mahler: Symphony No. 5

In the last decade of his life, Claudio Abbado once again realised a cycle in which all of Gustav Mahler's completed symphonies except the Eighth are performed together with his Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Abbado's affection for the composer's music had been strengthened during his years as a student in Vienna and deepened again during his time as assistant to Mahler-enthusiast Leonard Bernstein. Those who are mainly familiar the famous Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony can make numerous discoveries in this 2004 performance: trumpet fanfares and funeral marches in the first movement, the beautiful horn episode in the scherzo, and the triumphant closing passage of the finale.

Ensemble: 

Lucerne Festival Orchestra

Conductor: 

Claudio Abbado