CD Purchase Information

MahlerFest CD Recordings

 MahlerFest CD order form
 Therese Stewart CD order form

Online purchase will be available soon!

NOTE: The commercially produced CD set of Symphony No. 8 is sold out. However, we do offer a 2-disc CD-R set (with a boolket containing the full text) for $12 plus packaging and shipping.

Photo: from MahlerFest XX
by Keith Bobo

Our commercially produced Symphony No. 10 is almost all gone, and we predict that the few remaining commercial sets will be gone very soon. However, we have a supply of extra program books and will offer CD-Rs of this symphony plus a program book for $12 plus packaging and shipping. When the program books are gone, we will still offer the CD-R's without the books, but with a reduced-text booklet.

We do have excellent, professional digital recordings of all concerts performed in Macky Auditorium and are making high-quality computer-generated CD-R sets of these performances as described below. These are minimally edited, so are true "YOU ARE THERE" recordings. We guarantee the quality of these CDs; if you receive any that have technical problems, please return the defective disk(s) for replacement.

All sets, with the exception of Symphony No. 10 and Das Lied von der Erde from MahlerFest XI, are two-CD sets. The CDs have informative labels and jewel case inserts, brief program notes, and full texts of all the songs. Essays and notes from MahlerFests X, XI, XIII, XIV, XV, and XVI are available in the Archives section. Material from MahlerFest IX and XII will be presented soon.

Prices

The prices for various mailing destinations are:

" USA: $12 (includes 1st class shipping)
" All other (Canada, Europe, Asia/Japan, Australia, South America): $15 (includes airmail shipping)
For orders of multiple sets, postage may be lower than the number of sets times the amounts listed above. Please inquire and we'll provide a shipping cost estimate.

Details

MFest VIII–Symphony No. 8, a CD-R set of the renowned 1995 live M8; a legend among Mahler enthusiasts.

MFest IX–Symphony No. 9, performed in 1996. One of our customers calls this the best M9 he has heard. This recording is still available but is superceded by that for MFXVIII.

MFest X–Symphony No. 10, performed in 1997, performing version by J. H. Wheeler, considered by many reviewers as an essential complement to the more well known version by Deryck Cooke. When the commercial pressings are gone, we will continue to make this available in a CD-R version (with full booklets as long as our supplies last).

MFest XI–Das Lied von Der Erde, performed in 1998. Jon Garrison, tenor (sings with the NY Metropolitan Opera); Julie Simson, mezzo-soprano (Voice Faculty, College of Music, CU).

MFest XII–Symphony No. 2, performed in 1999 - Alpenhorn and steam railroad engine bells are heard in the last movement. Soloists are Lucille Beer, a wonderful mezzo-soprano with rich, velvety voice, and soprano Caroline Whisnant, with the Colorado Mormon Chorale, Denver's Cherry Creek Chorale, and the Colorado Symphony Chorus. Bonus fillers are two songs: Antonius Fischpredigt, the theme of which is the basis of the Symphony's scherzo, and Mahler's early, deeply moving song, Zu Strassburg auf der Schanz, the only early song Mahler orchestrated (i.e., the first one-fourth; the rest was completed per Mahler's beginning by Luis de Pablo), the ONLY such recording of this song.

MFest XIII–Symphony No. 3, performed in 2000, with Lucille Beer, mezzo-soprano, the famous Denver Children's Chorale, and the women of the Colorado Symphony Chorus and the Boulder Chorale. The set includes Lucille Beer's remarkable rendition of the song Ablosung im Sommer, the theme for the second movement.

MFest XIV–Symphony No. 4 and Des Knaben Wunderhorn, performed in 2001, with Julie Simson and Philip Kraus, who sings with the Chicago Lyric Opera Company. You will not ever hear a finer rendition of the Wunderhorn songs! The performance of Symphony No. 4 is magic.

MFest XV–Symphony No. 5 and Kindertotenlieder, with Nmon Ford, baritone, a rising star in the vocal world. His rendition of Kindertotenlieder is deeply moving and was named by a local music writer as one of the musical events of 2002.

MFest XVI–Symphony No. 6 and Rückert Lieder, with Lucille Beer, mezzo-soprano, a favorite of MahlerFest audiences. This 2-CD set from the 2003 MahlerFest includes recordings of both versions of the symphony's finale—the original version with three hammer blows, and Mahler's subsequent revision with two hammer blows. The demonstration-quality recording by Jerry Bruck is accompanied by liner notes on the fascinating compositional history and order of the inner movements as well as the question of the third hammer blow.

MFest XVII–Symphony No. 7 and Wagner's Prelude to Die Meistersinger. Mahler paired these two works together when he conducted. Listen to the finale of the 7th and you'll know why.

Mfest XVIII–features Symphony No. 9, as well as the Tragic Overture by Brahms.

Mfest XIX–The CD set from MFest XIX is now available: David Lamb Fanfare, Blumine, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Symphony No. 1.

Performers

The MahlerFest orchestra meets just once a year, but comprises musicians who play in many ensembles, coming from at last count some 80 orchestras in the United States and abroad (New Zealand, UK, Israel, Norway, Japan and Canada). They come together at their own expense in Boulder for a week of intense music making for the love of Mahler, on a volunteer basis, even from distant parts. Their dedication and fervor shows in the results.

Conductor Robert Olson is a believer in Mahler's own greatness and is faithful to his scores with their countless markings and instructions; his readings of these works are remarkable - filled with gusto with excellent choices of tempi and tempo relationships, tenderness without sentimentality, and power without destroying the long line and song-like quality of Mahler's symphonic style. In short, these are readings worthy of the best.

Special Therese Stewart Memorial 3-CD set

Terrie Stewart has played piano in our MahlerFest Chamber/Lieder recitals since MahlerFest IX. In January 2002, she and Patrick Mason performed an outstanding, luminous, deeply moving Winterreise, Franz Schubert's hauntingly beautiful song cycle of a disappointed lover. That was Terrie's last concert, as her remission after a long bout with cancer ended; she fell ill in February and succumbed in April. Dauntless to the end, Terries decided to establish in her estate plan a scholarship fund at the CU College of Music in honor of her own piano teacher.

MahlerFest honors Terrie's memory by dedicating the annual Chamber/Lieder concerts to her, and by making available a 3-CD set featuring Terrie. The set includesa CD of the splendid Winterreise from January, 2002 as well as two CDs of songs by Mahler and other composers. The set is available for a tax-deductable contribution of $40.00 (U.S.). Performers are Patrick Mason, Lucille Beer, and several fine CU graduate student artists. All proceeds of the sale of this CD set are tax-deductable and will go to Terrie's scholarship fund. The texts of all the songs and a tribute are included. To simplify the bookkeeping, and to provide you with a record for tax purposes, please pay by check, made out to:

The University of Colorado Foundation, Inc.

You should note in the "Memo" portion of the check, or include a separate note, that your check is for the "Beckie Reeder Arnold Piano Scholarship Fund." We will turn the checks over to the Foundation.

 MahlerFest CD order form
 Therese Stewart CD order form