Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2
Performed by Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM)
Video reproduced with permission from Orchestra of the Music Makers
Voted the fifth greatest symphony of all time in a survey carried out by BBC Music in 2016, Mahler’s Second Symphony was written by the composer between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. Also known as the Resurrection Symphony, it was one of Mahler's most popular works during his lifetime and his first major composition that established his lifelong view of the beauty of the afterlife. Combining orchestral forces with a large chorus and two vocal soloists, the work takes the listener from solemnity to a finale depicting life, death and heavenly transcendence.
Revisiting the symphony eight years after a highly acclaimed performance in 2010 (the 150th anniversary of Mahler’s birth), OMM tackled the work once again under the baton of Music Director Tzelaw Chan with Toh Ban Sheng acting as chorus master. Australian vocalists Siobhan Stagg and Caitlin Hulcup took on the roles of soprano and mezzo-soprano respectively in this 2018 revival.
OMM performed Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony at Esplanade Concert Hall on 18 August 2018 as part of the line-up for OMM10: Discover, which opened its 2018 season by exploring highlights from its earliest years.
Chan Tze Law is a Singaporean conductor and a founding faculty member of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore. Currently Music Director of OMM and the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra, he has appeared with major orchestras in the Asia-Pacific region and with soloists such as Lang Lang, Ng Pei-Sian, Melvyn Tan, Joshua Bloom, Fiona Campbell, Warwick Fyfe, and Igor Yuzefovich. In 2018, he received the Composers and Authors Society of Singapore’s Artistic Excellence Award for his contributions to Singapore music.
Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) is a Singapore-based symphony orchestra. Established in 2008, it comprises over 140 highly trained volunteer musicians dedicated to upholding the high standards of music-making the orchestra stands for. OMM has played at notable events such as the Cheltenham Music Festival and Lichfield Festival in the UK as well as the Taipei International Choral Festival. Following the successful performances of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel in 2017 and Bernstein’s Mass in 2018, OMM most recently staged the Singapore premiere of Wagner’s Die Walküre in 2020.
