Minnesota Orchestra Releases Recording of Mahler's Fourth Symphony

The Swedish label BIS Records is releasing the fifth album in the Minnesota Orchestra's ongoing Mahler recording series-a recording of Mahler's Fourth Symphony, conducted by Music Director Osmo Vänskä and featuring soprano soloist Carolyn Sampson. The album will be available for purchase at Orchestra Hall and through the Minnesota Orchestra's website, minnesotaorchestra.org, beginning Monday, November 25, 2019, and will be officially released digitally worldwide on Friday, December 6, 2019, and on disc in the U.S. and Canada on Friday, January 3, 2020.

Mahler's Fourth Symphony begins with a discourse on a simple violin tune and ends with a child's view of heaven, delivered by a soprano. A hint of darkness comes in the second movement, where death's fiddle leads a beguiling waltz; the ensuing Adagio is among the composer's finest slow movements. Music Director Osmo Vänskä leads the Minnesota Orchestra through this celestial symphony, which features the voice of soprano soloist Carolyn Sampson in the final movement. It was originally recorded by BIS Records in June 2018 at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.

This is the fifth release in the Orchestra's project to record and release all ten of Mahler's symphonies. The Orchestra's recording of Mahler's Fifth Symphony received a 2018 Grammy nomination for Best Orchestral Performance. Mr. Vänskä and the Orchestra have also released recordings of Mahler's Sixth Symphony; Second Symphony, Resurrection; and First Symphony, Titan. Since the Fourth Symphony was recorded, Mr. Vänskä and the Orchestra have recorded two additional Mahler symphonies-the Seventh and Tenth-for future releases on the BIS label. The project will continue with performances and recording sessions of the Ninth Symphony in June 2020.

The BIS team, led by producer Robert Suff, recorded this album as a Super Audio CD (SACD), using surround sound recording technology to reproduce the sound of the concert hall as faithfully as possible. BIS Hybrid SACDs are playable on all standard CD players. Further information about the Minnesota Orchestra's recordings on the BIS Records label can be found on the BIS website, www.bis.se.

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