THOMAS DAUSGAARD AND THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY RELEASE REVELATORY PERFORMANCES OF RUED LANGGAARD’S PRELUDE TO ANTICHRIST AND RICHARD STRAUSS’ AN ALPINE SYMPHONY
SEATTLE SYMPHONY SHINES WITH DAUSGAARD AT THE HELM IN CONDUCTOR’S FIRST ALBUM AS NEW MUSIC DIRECTOR
ALBUM FEATURES PREMIERE ORIGINAL VERSION RECORDING OF LANGGAARD’S PRELUDE TO ANTICHRIST
AVAILABLE NOW ON APPLE MUSIC AND AMAZON
SEATTLE, WA – Incoming Music Director Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony release live recordings of Rued Langgaard’s Prelude to Antichrist and Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony on September 13, 2019. Dausgaard’s inaugural album with the Seattle Symphony as its Music Director features powerful performances of works that pair for an intriguing exploration of the composers’ fascination with the Antichrist.
Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony bring Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony to audiences at Benaroya Hall in June 2017. The ensemble bolstered extra woodwinds and horns, two tubas, and exotic percussion such as a wind machine and thunder sheet. Photo by Brandon Patoc.
Langgaard’s opera Antichrist – first staged in 2002 in a performance conducted by Thomas Dausgaard – is an apocalyptic vision of the world before Judgement Day, the time when Antichrist reigns and the time Langgaard felt he was living in. Prelude depicts the moments before the Last Judgement and the calamity that pervades humanity. While Langgaard, one of the most prominent composers from Daugaard’s native country of Denmark, has had works played by many major orchestras across the country, Seattle Symphony’s performance in April 2019 marked the US premiere of the original version of Prelude to Antichrist. Where Langgaard paints a picture of chaos and confusion, Strauss brings one of hope and salvation. An Alpine Symphony was at one point Der Antichrist, named after Nietzsche’s book of the same name. But Alpine draws only indirectly from this reference. Of his work, Strauss wrote that it represented “moral purification through one’s own strength, liberation through work, worship of eternal, magnificent nature.”
The album marks an exciting new era for the orchestra and its new Music Director. Thomas Dausgaard “sends out a kind of force field from the podium, inspiring the musicians and wrapping the audiences up in his joy and enthusiasm. He compels them to listen, to involve themselves with the music” (The Seattle Times).
Digital downloads and CDs are available through all major online music retailers and streaming services and will be available worldwide on September 13th, 2019. This recording is also in an immaculate 5.1 digital surround version engineered by 2017 Grammy Award winner for Best Surround Sound, Dmitriy Lipay.
To obtain a physical or digital review copy of the release, photos, liner notes or any other information on Seattle Symphony Media, please contact Dinah Lu at dinah.lu@seattlesymphony.org.
RECORDING DETAILS
RUED LANGGAARD
Prelude to Antichrist
(original version premiere recording)
RICHARD STRAUSS
An Alpine Symphony
Thomas Dausgaard, conductor
Seattle Symphony
Following their critically-acclaimed recordings of Mahler’s Symphony No. 10 and the Nielsen Symphonies, Thomas Dausgaard and the Seattle Symphony return with inspiring and powerful performances of works rooted in the fascination of the Antichrist. Dausgaard has a deep connection to the music of his countrymen and is well-regarded for his interpretations of Strauss – this album couples the Danish composer Rued Langgaard’s Prelude to Antichrist with Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony, capturing the thrill of live performance on disc. This recording is also available in an immaculate 5.1 digital surround version engineered by 2017 Grammy winner for Best Surround Sound, Dmitriy Lipay.
LANGGAARD PRELUDE TO ANTICHRIST, BVN 170:1
Total Timing: 12:32 // Catalog Number: SSM1023 // Producer: Dmitriy Lipay //
Label: Seattle Symphony Media
RICHARD STRAUSS EINE ALPENSINFONIE (“AN ALPINE SYMPHONY”)
Total Timing: 45:58 // Catalog Number: SSM1023 // Producer: Dmitriy Lipay //
Label: Seattle Symphony Media
The Seattle Symphony is grateful to Joan Watjen for her generous support of SEATTLE SYMPHONY MEDIA CDs in memory of her husband Craig.
Recorded in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, Benaroya Hall, Seattle, Washington.
Langgaard’s Prelude to Antichrist was recorded live in concert April 4, 6 and 7, 2019.
Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony was recorded live in concert June 15 and 17, 2017.
Both Langgaard’s Prelude to Antichrist and Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony were presented as part of the Delta Air Lines Masterworks Season. The performances of Langgaard’s Prelude to Antichrist was sponsored by Seattle Symphony 2018 GiveBIG supporters. Thomas Dausgaard’s performances on April 4, 6 and 7, 2019 received additional support from the Scan|Design Foundation by Inger & Jens Bruun. His performances on June 15 and 17, 2017 were generously underwritten by Leona Pazina and Susan Pazina, in memory of Robert Pazina, through the Seattle Symphony’s Guest Artists Circle.
Digital downloads and CDs are available through iTunes, Amazon, Acoustic Sounds and HD Tracks. Recordings can be streamed through Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and Primephonic.