Choral magic makes Mahler come to life

Conductor Alan Buribayev is never one to allow dramatic opportunities slip by, and the all-hands-on-deck RTE NSO responded magnificently

Soprano Patricia Bardon

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No 2

RTE NSO and Philharmonic Choir

NCH, October 16

Working out Mahler’s music intention can be a tricky business, particularly when he himself hadn’t made up his mind. This was surely the case with The Resurrection, his second symphony, which wanders on for some considerable time before the composer eventually springs a big surprise; it’s about life and death and beyond.

So what’s new, then? The answer is that, ...