Embrace Everything - The World of Gustav Mahler
The Embrace Everything podcast series is an exploration and celebration of the music of Gustav Mahler. Throughout his life Mahler insisted that music had to, literally, embrace everything. This makes his compositions unusually rich in what they offer both audience and musicians. It’s often delightfully quirky one moment and then deeply tragic the next. Mahler did not shy away from introducing the most low-brow, commonplace musical tune alongside the most radiantly sublime words in all of spiritual literature. Gustav Mahler meant what he said: music has to embrace everything. Each season of the series explores a different Mahler symphony. The series already includes more than 100 interviews with leading conductors, music scholars, and orchestral musicians—all of whom have extensive first-hand experience with the music, offering an abundance of insights into just what makes Mahler’s music so unique. Additionally, comments from Mahler and his contemporaries are read by actors throughout the programs. Each episode explores how Mahler drew not just from the world of music but from the other arts, from the world of nature, and from life itself. Anything that attracted Mahler’s attention was liable to find its way into the music. How did he do this? That’s something each episode investigates. Interviews thus far include members of the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Embrace Everything has topped podcast charts around the world. The series reached #1 on the Apple Music Commentary, Music History, or Music charts in more than 25 countries and has won 15 international awards in the last three years.
Episodes
Season 1 focuses on Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 in D major (1888), taking listeners back to the work’s origins in the street songs, folk tunes and bugle calls of Mahler’s childhood. Each episode is devoted to a movement of the symphony.
*****
Starring James Lurie as the voice of Gustav Mahler and Laura Gragtmans as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner.
Guests include conductors Kent Nagano and Michael Tilson Thomas; principal music...
Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony is the story of a young man beginning his journey through life. In fact, it is Mahler himself, looking at the world with wide-eyed wonder. Originally, he titled the first movement “Spring Without End,” for its depiction of the joys of nature.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*LAURA GRAGTMANS as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner
Guests include:
*MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS...
In the second movement of his First Symphony, Gustav Mahler draws upon the dance music of his youth. As his mood becomes more exuberant, so too, does the music.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*LAURA GRAGTMANS as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner
Guests include:
*MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS – Conductor (San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra)
*KENT NAGANO – Conductor (Hamburg S...
Early audiences found the third movement of Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony grotesque, macabre and unsettling. Inspired by an engraving entitled “The Huntsman’s Funeral,” Mahler juxtaposes death with humor, incorporating a popular children's melody—a brilliant touch that still delights and spooks audiences today.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*LAURA GRAGTMANS as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lech...
Gustav Mahler originally titled his First Symphony “Titan,” because of the mighty struggle between his hero and fate, a monumental battle that reaches its climax in the fourth movement.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*LAURA GRAGTMANS as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner
Guests include:
*MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS – Conductor (San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra)
*WIL...
Season 2 focuses on Mahler’s Second Symphony in C minor (1888-1894), delving into Mahler’s gigantic musical exploration of life, death, and what lies beyond. Each episode is devoted to a movement of the symphony.
Winner of a Gold Award at the 2022 New York Festivals Radio Awards and a 2022 Signal Award.
*****
Starring James Lurie as the voice of Gustav Mahler, Laura Gragtmans as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner and Rob...
Mahler’s Second Symphony begins with the funeral for the hero of his First Symphony. The dramatic music rages with sorrow and anger...but also hope, for life after death.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
Guests include:
*KENT NAGANO – Conductor (Hamburg State Opera and Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony Orchestra)
*CARTER BREY - Principal Cello, New York Philharmonic
*AUSTIN HOWLE - Principal Tuba, Mon...
For his Second Symphony, Mahler created a second movement he described as a memory, “a ray of sunlight, pure and cloudless, out of the hero’s life.” The music is bittersweet.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
Guests include:
*MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS – Conductor (San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra)
*CARTER BREY - Principal Cello, New York Philharmonic
*MATTHEW AUCOIN -...
In the summer of 1893, Mahler wrote a song, entitled “St. Anthony of Padua’s Sermon to the Fish.” It turned out so well, he incorporated melodies from it into the third movement of his Second Symphony.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*LAURA GRAGTMANS as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner
*ROBERT FASS as the voice of Siegfried Lipiner
Guests include:
*KENT NAGANO – Conductor (Hamburg State Opera and...
The fourth movement of Mahler’s Second Symphony is a delicate song for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. It’s a turning point in the symphony, where the protagonist’s spiritual wisdom blossoms.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*LAURA GRAGTMANS as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner
*ROBERT FASS as the voice of Siegfried Lipiner
Guests include:
*CARTER BREY - Principal Cello, New York Philharmonic
*MICHAEL ...
Mahler described the last movement of his Second Symphony, which includes two soloists and a chorus, as a colossal fresco of The Day of Judgement. All of humanity meets its maker, and Mahler stretches his musical wings, soaring to glorious heights.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*LAURA GRAGTMANS as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner
*ROBERT FASS as the voice of Siegfried Lipiner
Guests include:
*K...
Season 3 focuses on Mahler’s Third Symphony in D minor (1895-1896), exploring Mahler’s unique perspective on the different orders of being, from lifeless matter to highest consciousness. Each episode is devoted to a movement of the symphony.
Winner of a Gold Award at the 2024 New York Festivals Radio Awards, two Communicator Awards and two Davey Awards.
*****
Starring James Lurie as the voice of Gustav Mahler, Paul...
Gustav Mahler’s Third Symphony is the story of creation, with each movement a higher rung on the ladder of consciousness. It begins with lifeless matter and the struggle for life to emerge, portrayed as a musical battle between winter and summer.
*****
Starring
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*PAUL HECHT as the voice of Friedrich Nietzsche
*LAURA GRAGTMANS as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner
Guests include:
*KENT NAG...
In the second movement of his Third Symphony, Gustav Mahler begins the upward journey on the ladder of consciousness. He considers flowers the first step and portrays them in musically charming ways.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*LAURA GRAGTMANS as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner
*BILLY LYONS as the voice of Arthur Schopenhauer
*GARY TIEDEMANN as the voice of Gustav Theodor Fechner
Guests include:
...
Gustav Mahler made animals the next step upward on his ladder of consciousness in the third movement of his Third Symphony. Summoning both humor and tragedy, he portrays the sounds of the forest, from sweetly singing nightingales to fearsome creatures.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*PAUL HECHT as the voice of Friedrich Nietzsche
*LAURA GRAGTMANS as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner
*BILLY LYONS as t...
In the fourth movement of his Third Symphony, Gustav Mahler’s ladder of consciousness reaches humanity. It is a dramatic orchestral song for mezzo soprano that explores the meaning of existence, with lyrics from Nietzsche’s book “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.”
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*PAUL HECHT as the voice of Friedrich Nietzsche
*ROBERT FASS as the voice of Siegfried Lipiner
Guests include:
*CARTER ...
Angels are the next step on Gustav Mahler’s ladder of consciousness. In the joyful fifth movement of his Third Symphony, the orchestra is joined by a children’s choir and a women’s choir giving voice to the angels.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*PAUL HECHT as the voice of Friedrich Nietzsche
*ROBERT FASS as the voice of Siegfried Lipiner
Guests include:
*JAMES BURTON - Choral Director, Boston Symphony...
In the sixth and final movement of Gustav Mahler’s Third Symphony, he reaches the top rung on his ladder of consciousness. This glorious adagio is Mahler’s celebration of God’s perfect love.
*****
Starring:
*JAMES LURIE as the voice of Gustav Mahler
*PAUL HECHT as the voice of Friedrich Nietzsche
*LAURA GRAGTMANS as the voice of Natalie Bauer-Lechner
*ROBERT FASS as the voice of Siegfried Lipiner
*BILLY LYONS as the voice of Arth...
Leonard Bernstein had an affinity for the music of Gustav Mahler, as seen in the climax of the Oscar-nominated 2023 Netflix film “Maestro.” In this special episode, we explore what the two musicians had in common, and learn how Bernstein brought Mahler back into the spotlight in the 1960s.
Winner of a 2024 Gold Signal Award, a Gold Davey Award, a Communicator Award of Excellence, a Silver Award at the 2024 New York Festival...
Season 4 focuses on Mahler’s Fourth Symphony in G major (1899-1900), which charts the journey of the soul from its earthly life to a heavenly one. Each episode is devoted to a movement of the symphony, followed by a concluding historical episode devoted to the reception of the Fourth Symphony when it premiered in 1901.
Winner of a Gold Signal Award, a Silver New York Festivals Radio Award, five Communicator Awards and two D...
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