Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”

Review: The Israeli Philharmonic has this music in their bones and they play as if their life depended on it. In addition, the two soloists rise to this sense of occasion. Ludwig, a frequent collaborator with Levine, sings her great solo with beauty and the appropriate gravitas. In fact, everyone involved seemed to sense that this performance was an occasion. The recording is in excellent stereo sound. This is especially impressive because this recording was probably taped for a radio broadcast. Moreover, the date of this performance catches Levine in what is perhaps the greatest period of his long career: the middle. Here he has just the right mixture of weightiness, expansiveness and tension.