Mahler 6 with Karina Canellakis

Gustav Mahler himself found his Sixth Symphony difficult to conduct. The work had to mature in the ears of conductors, orchestras and listeners, mainly because of its scale and tragedy. For eighty minutes, fear and doubt loom large. But the master of contrast also has cowbells ringing in an Alpine valley and a xylophone in a haunting scherzo. The Andante is mild and rural, quoting from Mahler's Kindertotenlieder. And the long last movement contains huge strokes of fate.