Mitropoulos conducts Mahler: Symphony No. 3

The live recording features Dimitri Mitropoulos leading the New York Philharmonic in a sweeping, intense, and vigorous reading of Mahler's Third Symphony. The conductor balances tension and poetry: the instrumental movements alternate passages of heroic momentum with moments of intimate suspension, with refined dynamic control and contrapuntal clarity. Beatrice Krebs, contralto, offers intense and warm vocals in the vocal movements, while the Westminster Choir (present in the fifth movement) radiates choral freshness and luminous timbre. The orchestra responds with a compact, rich sound and colorful details, conveying the work's majesty and contemplative dimension in an enveloping and well-calibrated reading.