MAHLER’S SYMPHONY No. 5

A rare gem of the symphonic repertoire, Mahler’s Fifth Symphony marks the beginning of the composer’s late creative period. The symphony is defined by its extraordinary range of intense and often conflicting emotions, with tragedy giving way to joy, pain to pleasure and despair to hope. This dual nature reflects the circumstances of its composition over two consecutive summer retreats (1901–2) at Mahler’s villa in southern Austria, during which his emotional state was strikingly different each year. In the summer of 1901, Mahler was recovering from a serious and potentially life-threatening illness, while the following summer found him in the same place, newly married to Alma Schindler and, for the first time, experiencing profound personal happiness as he awaited the birth of his first child. Therefore, Death and Love become the two poles upon which Mahler constructs his symphonic world, shaped by intricate orchestration which he continued to revise until the end of his life, driven by his well-known perfectionism.
The Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra is conducted by the distinguished British conductor Martyn Brabbins.

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G. Mahler: Symphony No.5 in C-sharp minor, GMW 44

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