Lucerne Festival 2003 - Abbado conducts Mahler Symphony No. 2

It would be hard to find anything greater, more significant or more moving anywhere in musical life today: total harmony of mind and heart, poetry and outcry, fear and consolation, knowing and feeling,” declared the Berne paper Der Bund after this stunning performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony in August 2003 by the newly founded Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Claudio Abbado had formed this ensemble from famous instrumentalists, celebrated chamber-music players and experienced soloists from the world’s best orchestras, and the event was sold out months in advance. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported: “Once again the applause at the end was unequalled; the immense final chord … broke a tension that had lasted over 90 minutes without relaxing for a moment.