Sheila Armstrong

Directed by Sir Humphrey Burton, this 90-minute powerhouse features Sheila Armstrong (soprano), Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bernstein at Ely Cathedral in 1973.

Beginning with the First Symphony, Bernstein reveals Mahler's position at the hinge of modernism, while emphasizing his emotional extremism. The uplifting Second "Resurrection" Symphony, with which Bernstein had an especially long and close association, is recorded here in a historic performance from 1973, set in the Romanesque splendor of Ely Cathedral. In the Third, Bernstein encompasses the symphony's spiritual panorama like no other conductor, with the Vienna Philharmonic players alive to every nuance.