Jonathan Nott conducts Mahler's 5th Symphony

This concert sees the return of our former principal conductor Jonathan Nott. Under his baton, our orchestra will immerse itself in the works of composers who created their very own musical universes, seeking to capture their thoughts and sorrows. Arvo Pärt, born in Estonia in 1935, achieves this with his contemplative "tintinnabuli style”, which often reflects the era of Gregorian chant, which Pärt describes as "music with soul". His popular work "Fratres" celebrates brotherly harmony and conjures up the image of a candlelit procession of medieval monks. This "ceaseless prayer" is followed by a powerful work in which the Hungarian György Kurtág sought to overcome personal tragedy. His dark and obsessive "Grabstein für Stephan was created in 1989 as a musical memorial for the husband of a psychologist who had once helped Kurtág get over of a creative block in which he felt, "to the point of despair”, that "there was nothing true in the world" and was "unable to find a foothold in reality". Mahler likewise often struggled with what was happening around him, seeking an answer to "questions about God, about the meaning and purpose of our existence" as well as to the "why in all of creation”. In this concert, we will perform his Fifth Symphony of 1902, a multifaceted work in which numerous storms are weathered – but the ethereal Adagietto provides a respite in the midst of all this turbulence. This movement became particularly famous through its use in Visconti's classic film "Death in Venice" – and its achingly nostalgic harmonies reveal a closeness to the transcendence of Mahler’s Rückert setting "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen".