The Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s acclaimed partnership with Universal Music Australia on the hallowed Deutsche Grammophon label continues with a magnificent recording of Mahler’s Third Symphony, recorded at the Sydney Opera House in February 2025 and released worldwide today. The recording also features the contralto Noa Beinart, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and The Sydney Children’s Choir.
This was a magnificent window into the Sydney Symphony’s current musical excellence and the irrational vastness of Mahler’s world.
The Sydney Symphony is the first Australian orchestra to record for the legendary Yellow Label through Universal Music Australia. Our inaugural release, which paired Mahler’s Symphony No.2, Resurrection with William Barton’s Of the Earth, debuted at No.1 on the ARIA Classical Chart, stayed there for 10 consecutive weeks, was nominated for Best Classical Album at the 2025 ARIA Awards and received widespread critical acclaim, confirming the artistic strength of this collaboration.
Mahler's music forms the cornerstone of the relationship between the Orchestra and the famous Yellow Label, reflecting Simone Young’s long-standing commitment to the composer and her celebrated interpretations with the Sydney Symphony. ‘To bring the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to Deutsche Grammophon, a label whose catalogue has shaped how the world hears classical music, means a great deal to me,’ says Chef Conductor Simone Young. ‘The Sydney Symphony musicians bring such dedication and love to everything we do together, and I am so pleased that this music, and the remarkable Australian artists who share our stage, will now reach audiences we might never otherwise meet. To share this work with new listeners around the world is especially meaningful, as music only truly lives through that connection. I feel very fortunate.’
Mahler described the symphony as embracing ‘the whole world’, and nowhere is that vision more fully realised than in his monumental Third Symphony. Spanning almost 100 minutes, it is the longest symphony in the standard repertoire and unfolds as an epic journey from the awakening of primordial nature through flowers, animals, humankind and the angels, to an expansive final hymn celebrating love.
Few works match its emotional breadth or orchestral imagination, and in Simone Young and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra it receives a performance of exceptional authority, insight and conviction.
Simone Young wields her magic Mahler wand…This was a gala performance to savour…
Click here to purchase the CD through Classics Direct.
Also available as digital download and all streaming services, including Apple Music and Spotify.
