On tour: Klaus Mäkelä conducts Mahler

Chief conductor designate Klaus Mäkelä is continuing his Mahler adventure with us. Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 invites us on a process of purification along with the composer. The symphony begins with a hesitant oscillation between conflicting emotions. After a series of mysterious nocturnal visions in the middle sections, it culminates in a triumphant victory. Using large brass and percussion sections, Mahler unleashes a grandiose fireworks display in the finale.
Mahler himself led the Concertgebouw Orchestra in the 1909 Dutch premiere. ‘I feel that I have found a second musical fatherland in Amsterdam,’ he wrote to his friend Willem Mengelberg. The renowned chief conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra did everything in his power to acquaint Dutch audiences with Mahler’s all-encompassing symphonies. His commitment made such an impression on Alma Mahler that she presented the colossal score of the Seventh Symphony to the Concertgebouw Orchestra as a gift after her husband’s death in 1911. The whimsical Seventh, which initially perplexed critics and audiences, eventually grew to become a favourite with listeners.