Conducted by Semyon Bychkov and Lukas Vasilek
The nature of existence and the allure of what comes after are thoroughly and awesomely explored in Mahler's epic Symphony No. 2, presented by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, a company whom the composer once led back in 1908. A rousing spectacular scored for the orchestra, organs, vocalists and chorus that climaxes with one of classical music's most incredible finales, there really is no better way to experience this piece than played live by one of the finest orchestras in the world.
Created between 1888 and 1884, the piece is an introspective yet passionate work that stemmed from the death of his friend, the conductor Hans Von Bulow. After hearing an extract from Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock's Die Auferstehung, where the dictum calls out "Rise again, yes, you shall rise again / My dust" he was compelled to begin his Resurrection, writing to a friend, "It struck me like lightning, this thing, and everything was revealed to me clear and plain."