On January 28, 2016, Pablo Mielgo conducted Mahler's Second Symphony live with over 230 musicians on stage. The Balearic Islands Symphony Orchestra, the University of the Balearic Islands Choir, and the Pamplona Choir performed one of the greatest works by the Austrian composer. Golda Schulz, soprano, and Charlotte Hellekant, mezzo, were the soloists in a magical night recorded on a double CD to be released in September. Here you can enjoy the final moment. | Youtube: Orquestra Simfònica Illes Balears
Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 was composed between 1901 and 1902 when he was recuperating from what had been a life-threatening haemorrhage.
Then in his early forties, the symphony represented a stylistic change from the previous four symphonies. The world premiere, which Mahler himself conducted, was in Cologne in October 1904. He is reported to have said after the premiere: "Nobody understood it. I wish I could conduct the first performance fifty years after my death."
While the symphony was innovative, it was at the same time the most conventional one that he had composed. But Mahler was never a conventional composer; hence why he felt that he was ahead of his time.
The fourth movement is his single most famous composition. Popularised by Visconti's 1971 film 'Death in Venice', which starred Dirk Bogarde, it is also commonly used for events to mark 9/11. The Balearic Symphony Orchestra's season at the auditorium restarts with the symphony.
Price
30-35 euros at simfonicadebalears.com and auditoriumpalma.com