Hamburg, Germany - NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester - Mahler

Programme:
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E-flat Major “Symphony of a Thousand”

Performing with
Carolyn Sampson, soprano
Lyubov Petrova, soprano
Miriam Kutrowatz, soprano
Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, mezzo-soprano
Jennifer Johnston, mezzo-soprano
Andreas Schager, tenor
Adam Plachetka, bass
David Leigh, bass
NDR Vokalensemble
Rundfunkchor Berlin
Prager Philharmonischer Chor
Knabenchor Hannover
NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester

Whenever there is mention of Gustav Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 8, the superlatives begin to fly. The common epithet »Symphony of a Thousand« – which did not originate from the composer – already gives a taste of this. Mahler himself described his largest-scale choral work as »the greatest thing I have ever done«. And he certainly wasn’t just referring to the gigantic apparatus of some 500 performers, which required not only a huge orchestra and numerous choirs but also no less than eight soloists. It was, above all, a tremendous spiritual and religious quality that Mahler associated with this symphony. The passages he chose for inspiration were no less than the holy of holies of German national literature, the final scene from Goethe’s Faust II, and the time-honoured Pentecost hymn »Veni, creator spiritus«.

Its premiere on 12 September 1910 was an overwhelming success. Even the great Thomas Mann was incredibly impressed, writing a letter of thanks to the composer, referring to him as »the man who, as I believe, expresses the art of our time in its profoundest and most sacred form.«

To this day, performances of Mahler’s Eighth remain a rare spectacle. After all, it is not every day that you have top ensembles like the Prague Philharmonic Choir, the Rundfunkchor Berlin, the NDR Vokalensemble, the Knabenchor Hannover and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra come together with a first-class octet of soloists! And it is not everywhere that the stage can accommodate everyone, but this is no problem in the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall. After his acclaimed performances of the Symphony No. 3 with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the star conductor Semyon Bychkov now continues his Mahler series, bringing the greatest that the classical and romantic repertoire has to offer to the podium.