The Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Universal Music Australia and Deutsche Grammophon are excited to announce the release of a live recording of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall reopening concert from July 2022.

This landmark event, broadcast around the world, marked not only the reopening of the Concert Hall after two years of extensive renewal works, but also the first concert of Simone Young’s tenure as Chief Conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

As befitting this significant event, Young and the Orchestra performed Mahler’s monumental Symphony No.2 Resurrection, featuring 100 musicians of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra with 190 members of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and an all-star cast including acclaimed Australian soprano Nicole Car and mezzo-soprano Deborah Humble.

The performance also included the world premiere of a new work by renowned First Nations composer William Barton, featuring the Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir and the Sydney Children’s Choir. Connecting the new and the old, Barton’s Of the Earth included clapsticks made from the floorboards of the old Concert Hall.

The historic concert was captured live and will be released on the iconic German record label Deutsche Grammophon on CD, vinyl and digital. This release marks not just Simone Young and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s debut on DG, but the first time ever than an Australian orchestra has been exclusively released on the ‘Yellow Label’ in its 127-year history.

‘Performing at the historic re-opening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall in my first concert as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s chief conductor was an extraordinary experience,’ says Simone Young. ‘The newfound sonic clarity and warmth of the improved acoustics allowed the music to resonate in a way that was previously unimaginable. It was particularly thrilling to conduct Mahler’s Symphony No.2, Resurrection, a work that speaks so deeply to the human condition, alongside William Barton’s Of the Earth, which beautifully captured the spirit of the occasion and the site of the celebration.

The release of this recording by Deutsche Grammophon marks not only the historic re-opening of the iconic Concert Hall, but also a significant milestone for myself and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in our first recording with the esteemed label.

GUSTAV MAHLER
Symphony No. 2, Resurrection

WILLIAM BARTON
Of the Earth (world premiere)

ARTISTS
Nicole Car, soprano
Deborah Humble, mezzo-soprano
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Sydney Children’s Choir
Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Simone Young

Released on 14 February 2025 on CD, Vinyl and Digitally (including Dolby Atmos.) on Deutsche Grammophon.

We are thrilled to offer customers a 20% discount on the purchase of this CD and LP (vinyl), exclusively available through our partner, Classics Direct. To receive the discount, visit the Classics Direct website and enter the code SSODG20.
Offer valid until 11.59pm, 28 February 2025.