Teodor Currentzis and musicAeterna in the Great Hall of the Philharmonic: Mahler, Symphony No. 5

On September 29 the Great Hall of the Shostakovich Philharmonic will host a long-awaited event - a concert by Teodor Currentzis and the musicAeterna orchestra. This time, the maestro and his orchestra will perform Gustav Mahler's Fifth Symphony - a work that became a manifesto of the mature style of the great symphonist. 

Mahler's Fifth Symphony is an existential human experience conveyed by means of music alone. The composer, having refused to use words and extra-musical program, conveys despair and hope, love and loneliness, rapture with the beauty of the world and horror at its ruthlessness. 

During the years of the creation of the Fifth Symphony, Mahler was a recognized conductor, the absolute director of the Vienna Opera and a theatrical reformer, but a deeply underestimated composer. He composed mainly in the summer, far from the hustle and bustle of Vienna. Before starting work on the Fifth Symphony, in the winter of 1901, Mahler suffered a serious hemorrhage, which put him on the brink of life and death and forced him to limit his habits in the fight for his health.

The figurative world of the symphony reflected not only the increased fear of death, but also unprecedented love: in the fall of 1901, Gustav Mahler met Alma Schindler. The composer's admirers claimed that the famous third part of the Fifth Symphony - Adagietto - is a love letter to his beloved. Later, this "song without words" would echo in Mahler's song "I Am Lost to the World" to the verses of Friedrich Rückert, in which the theme of love is inextricably intertwined with the theme of loneliness.

Initially, the composer composed a certain program for the symphony, which he shared with his most trusted friends, but then abandoned it. The program remained a secret, and now the content of the unusual five-part cycle, grouped into three sections (Funeral March and Allegro, titanic Scherzo, piercing Adagietto and Rondo Finale), serves as material for countless interpretations and gives an opportunity for imagination to fly.

Don't miss the chance to become a part of this musical event! You can buy tickets on our website now. Enjoy Mahler's masterpiece performed by one of the most inspiring orchestras of our time under the direction of maestro Teodor Currentzis. Buy tickets on our website - this is your ticket to the world of great music!