ConcertPulse
Mahler's Symphony No. 5 & Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3
Het Concertgebouw, Main Hall (Amsterdam)
What did Mahler's Fifth Symphony sound like at the beginning of the last century? The Mahler Academy Orchestra, attached to the Gustav Mahler Academy in Bolzano, sheds new light on performance practice in Mahler's time with the Originalklang-Project. The orchestra consists partly of academics and partly of professional musicians, drawn from the best European orchestras. In Toblach, where Mahler composed his last symphonic works, they mastered playing on original Viennese instruments from around 1900 under the direction of Philipp von Steinaecker. The strings use gut strings; the woodwind and brass play on instruments Mahler acquired during his time as conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic.Norwegian star pianist Leif Ove Andsnes will solo in Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto. Fun fact: Mahler conducted this work at the New York Philharmonic in 1910 with Rachmaninoff himself as soloist. The Mahler Academy Orchestra's concert is a prelude to the Mahler Festival in May 2025.Originalklang with original text: first performance of Mahler's Fifth Symphony in the new critical edition by Breitkopf & Härtel.