Insights of sadness

by Petar PLAMENOV

12 September (Sunday) 2010
Bulgaria Hall
Grand Hall, 19:30
Address:
Sofia, 1 Aksakov Str.
Working time: mon-sun 09:00–18:30
Phone: 02 987 76 56

The concert is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Gustav Mahler and 90 years since the establishment of the Bulgarian-Czechoslovak diplomatic relations; with the special participation of the Prague Chamber Orchestra and New Symphony Orchestra - Bulgaria.

Soloists: Vladislav Borovka [oboe], Antonia Ivanova [soprano]
Conductor: Martin Klepetko
Programme:
Petko Stainov - Simfonichna Story - Suite
Bohuslav Martinu - Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra
Gustav Mahler - Symphony № 4




Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911) was born in Kalist, Bohemia, in 1860. He was the second child, and the first of fourteen to survive. After his birth, his family moved to Jihlava, where his father ran a tavern and distillery. He began learning the piano at age 6, giving his first public recital in 1870. He studied briefly in Prague, before entering the Vienna Conservatory in 1875.
Mahler described himself as 'three times homeless: a Bohemian amongst Austrians, an Austrian amongst Germans, and a Jew throughout the world', and indeed, his enemies in the anti-semetic press eventually led to his resignation from the Vienna Court Opera in 1907. From 1907 onwards, a heart ailment cast a shadow over his activities. On January 1, 1908, he made his American debut conducting Wagner's Tristan and the New York Metropolitan Opera. He was appointed conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 1909. A severe blood infection in 1911 lead to his death on 18th May.



Mahler's symphonies were greeted with hostility at first, but thanks to the early advocacy of conductors such as Mengelberg and Walter, are now recognized as the very height of the Austro-German symphonic tradition. His genius lies in his ability to draw together wildly disparate elements - intense post-Wagnerian harmony, Austrian rusticism, child-like innocence, and a morbid fascination with death - into totally compelling musical structures. He championed the music of the younger generation of composers, and had a profound influence on modernist composers such as Shostakovich and Schoenberg. In Mahler's music, the 20th century has found expression of its hopes and fears.