For those not in the know, in September 2018, Yannick Nézet-Séguin became the third Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera, New York.

Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2012 and the Orchestre Métropolitain of Montreal since 2000, he became Honorary Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra after being their Music Director from 2008 to 2018 (He is also Honorary Member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe).

Yannick has worked with many leading European ensembles and enjoys close collaborations with Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, Bayerischer Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester and Chamber Orchestra of Europe; between 2008 and 2014, he was also Principal Guest Conductor of London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin's new Mahler recording, Mahler: Symphony No. 8 marks a return to the core symphonic repertoire with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Billed as the “Symphony of a Thousand,” exploring themes of redemption through the power of love, the performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of its music director in March 2016 marked – almost to the day – the 100th anniversary of the glorious U.S. premiere by the very same orchestra in 1916, then conducted by Stokowski.

Performed live with the added edge as also being a tribute to Leopold Stokowski - as aforementioned, the man who first performed and recorded Mahler 8 in America - this American performance of the work is simply magnificent.

With the playing of the Philadelphia Orchestra as incredible as you could only hope and wish it to be, Nézet-Séguin's conducting is ardently energetic, but nonetheless at all times passionately thoughtful.

From the off, and no matter how dense the orchestrations, it remains clear and crisp throughout. With all the tempo relationships from one section to the next combining effortlessly with the abundance of subtle shifts, everything here is just so perfectly, and at all times organically blended.

Official Purchase Link

www.yannicknezetseguin.com