Auditorium di Milano Fondazione Cariplo: Mahler Festival #14

About the Event

Experience classical music like never before in this awe‐inspiring performance of masterworks by Gustav Mahler at Milan's renowned Auditorium Fondazione Cariplo.

The Ninth Symphony not only represents the composer's final accomplished journey, but also marks the end of the entire 'symphony civilization' after a century and a half. Berg's observations shed light on several distinctive elements of this work, with the relationship with death being of utmost importance. While the theme is a constant in Mahler's work, his last compositions, including Das Lied von der Erde, Ninth Symphony, and the fragments of the Tenth, emerged from a deep reflection overwhelmed by the impending end. This reflection, both in content and musical form, can be summed up as the 'Death Trilogy.'

Death became a tangible presence in Mahler's life during the summer of 1907. On July 5, the composer tragically lost his daughter, Anna Maria. Shortly after, he received the devastating diagnosis of a severe congenital heart condition, leaving little hope. It was in this state of mind that the Eighth Symphony was completed, marking the end of a cycle.

The experience of death was a dramatic turning point, dividing two eras of Mahler's professional and creative life. Additionally, other circumstances during that mournful summer forced the composer to embark on a new phase. Firstly, the prolonged struggle between Mahler and Vienna had come to an end. In the spring, Mahler had resigned from the Hofoper, and accompanied by controversy and animosity, the audacious revitalizer of the Viennese theater decided to venture to New York, seeking a new and ultimately unsuccessful adventure.