This recording of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony by the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich under its Music Director Paavo Järvi, is the first in a complete cycle of Mahler symphonies.

Järvi has of course conducted Mahler’s works many times in his career. But has waited for the right moment to record the complete cycle in the studio. The right moment not only in his life as a musician but also in his relationship with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. The maturity and power revealed in the orchestra’s recordings for Alpha Classics have been hailed by the music press since 2019.

“Mahler truly opened up a new universe with the Fifth, in which he initiated an incredibly personal style of music-making.” says Paavo Järvi. “It is the very nature of its opening — a military funeral — and of its tragedy, in conjunction with the very idea of beginning a symphony in this way, which signals that something completely different is in store for us”.

Ivo Gass, Horn Solo
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Paavo Järvi, Music Director