CCMusic.com

Adam Fischer writes of Mahler's 4th Symphony: "I am delighted to perform and record the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler with the Dusseldorfer Symphoniker. The result, we hope, should be something special: a rendition that stems from an active collaboration in which we mutually inspire one another. This should not be "my" Mahler, but "our" Mahler..." The Fourth is Mahler's most transparent and lyrical symphony- almost a chamber symphony. Probably also due to it's rather reduced format, it has been received in unique and contradictory ways. Even during the time when international audiences had practically no knowledge of Mahler's music, the Fourth remained relatively popular. Today it is regarded as less impressive than the First, Second, Third, Fifth, and Sixth Symphonies; from Fischer's point of view, however, this stems from an unacceptable misunderstanding. Stylistically, the Fourth poses a truly special challenge that the ensemble finds quite exciting. It is Mahler's "Pastoral Symphony."