Magic Moments of Music: Abbado conducts Mahler's Second Symphony

In 2003, the great Claudio Abbado conducted the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in a monumental work from the symphonic repertoire: Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No. 2. The concert quickly earned its place in the pantheon of the greatest interpretations of this magnificent work. The stakes of the evening were particularly heightened: Abbado, who had established himself as perhaps the greatest Mahlerian of his day and led the Lucerne Festival Orchestra to new heights, was returning to the stage after a cancer diagnosis that would later prove fatal. What’s more, having contributed to the revival of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra after it was abandoned in 1993, the “Resurrection” Symphony, a spiritual and metaphysical work for a colossal ensemble, was an almost instinctive choice.

Musicians Antonello Manacorda, Renaud Capuçon, Emmanuel Pahud, and Reinhold Friedrich, among others, reflect on this legendary concert for this episode of the Magic Moments of Music series. They fondly recall their experience with the orchestra and this timeless interpretation by one of the most admired maestros of the late twentieth century.

Watch Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 conducted by Claudio Abbado on medici.tv