Dallas Symphony Orchestra / MAHLER, Das Lied von der Erde (2019)

“O’Connor, Runnicles, and the orchestra collaborated to produce a perfect Mahlerian moment—lavish in delicate colors and intense emotion. O’Connor’s calmly mournful delivery of her first phrase, gently intertwined with flute solo, created a breathtaking aura of desolation, preparing the ensuing emotional journey. All of this aimed toward the final apotheosis and reconciliation in glorious C major, with O’Connor delivering the radiant phrase with perfect control, as it faded toward the final “Ewig” against a backdrop of harps and celeste.”

“The mezzo (or baritone) gets the cycle’s most introspective words and music, and Kelley O’Connor delivered them with the utmost elegance, her mezzo beautifully focused and fluid.”