G. Mahler, 3. Symphony at Stephansdom

About the Event

Experience classical music like never before in this astonishing performance of masterworks by Mahler at Vienna's remarkable St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Mahler in St. Stephen's Cathedral — this combination already produced a magnificent concert last year and promises an impressive performance again this year. With Mahler's third symphony, a timeless work awaits you this time, which can hardly be surpassed in expressiveness.

'For me, symphony means building a world with all the means of existing technology. These are the words Gustav Mahler used to describe the approach to his symphonic compositions. Hardly any other quotation applies better to his Symphony No. 3, for it is truly a world that opens up before you when you listen to it — from the first entry of the orchestra, where the horns blow a powerful march, to the sustained hymn that unites all the timbres of the instruments.

The alto solo O Mensch! Gib acht! from Friedrich Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra takes as its theme the human condition itself, before Mahler invokes the religious dimension in the children's chorus Es sungen drei Engel. The third symphony is full of striking leitmotifs and themes that remain in the memory for a long time. The composer's intention to depict nature, man and life in an impressive musical form is more than successful.

Lux Aeterna Orchestra and Vox Aeterna Choir are composed of students from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) and the Music and Arts Private University (MUK). They are united by the joy of making music together.

As a special sound space, St. Stephen's Cathedral is ideally suited for a work of this size and allows its epochal effect to be emphasised even more — an acoustically unique concert experience.