With Jakub Hrůša in Paris

Paris, Philharmonie
20:30 Uhr

In 1896, Gustav Mahler wrote to Anna von Mildenburg, with whom he was having a passionate love affair, that he was working on a composition meant »to reflect the entire world«: »One is, so to speak, only the instrument on which the universe is playing.« Mahler’s Third Symphony, which featured in our December concerts, now returns to our programmes – including that of our guest performance in the Philharmonie de Paris. It is a masterly »symphonic tale«. According to Theodor W. Adorno, Mahler wrote musical novels. His Third Symphony is a kind of evolutionary history in music: starting with primeval nature, its development finally culminates in a great song of love. The whole thing takes over 100 minutes – longer than anything written until then. The opening movement alone, in which Mahler wakens Pan and summer, lasts over half an hour – leading a horrified Viennese critic to write: »The man deserves a couple of years in gaol for this.« But Mahler was simply an inspired creator of musical images – and his Third Symphony is a wonderful example of this. He himself wrote: »All of nature is given a voice in it, telling secrets so deep that we perhaps sense them in dreams!« Mahler had the ability to lose himself in these worlds of dreams with their trials and tribulations and then catapult them to the surface of his music – using a vast orchestra and additional voices. Come with us as we embark on a musical journey through this panopticon of life and nature!

Jakub Hrůša Conductor
Bernarda Fink Alto
Damen und Kinder des Chors des Orchestre de Paris Chorus

Gustav Mahler Symphonie Nr. 3 d-Moll

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