JAMES GAFFIGAN

Mahler's Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection," is a score of colossal dimensions, both in length and in the arrangement of orchestral and vocal forces. It requires, for example, ten horns and a minimum of eight trumpets in the brass section, seven percussionists, as many strings as possible, and a huge mixed choir along with soprano and alto soloists. James Gaffigan is an expert in these matters. He has conducted almost all of Mahler's symphonies, and his performance of the Second Symphony at the Basilica of Saint-Denis in 2014 with the Orchestre National de France "remains in the memory," as Le Monde reported, following the headline "Gaffigan resurrects Mahler in Saint-Denis." Music for reflection on life, death, and the hope of resurrection, expressed in intense contrasts and passages of breathtaking tenderness.