To the main content

Munich Philharmonic: Gustav MahlerLorenzo Viotti (conductor)

This event is in the past.

Lorenzo Viotti conducts with raised hands and closed eyes
Copyright: Silvia Lelli

The “Sixth” occupies a special position in Gustav Mahler’s oeuvre.

This event is in the past.

The “Sixth” occupies a special position in Gustav Mahler’s oeuvre.

Lorenzo Viotti, conductor

 

While Mahler’s other symphonies, with the exception of the “Ninth” progress from a dark, depressive mood to a final apotheosis, the tragic character of the “Sixth” never recovers. On the contrary: the finale reinforces the fatalistic mood with apocalyptic hammer blows – “like the blow of an axe” as Mahler instructed on his score. An extravaganza for eyes, ears and mind, Mahler’s Sixth is probably the most intense musical expression of emotional despair. Alma Mahler said about it: “No work has flowed so directly from his heart. The Sixth is his most personal work and a prophetic one at that.”

Programme

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No 6 in A minor, “Tragic”