Mahler. Journey

Performers:

• Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
• Ihor Muraviov, conductor

Programme:

• Gustav Mahler. Symphony No. 1 in D major, Titan

A Journey Through Gustav Mahler’s Entire Symphonic World

On 27 September, the Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra will launch the ambitious project “Mahler. The Journey”, featuring all of Gustav Mahler’s symphonies. Each concert will be a distinct artistic event, while together they will form a single musical journey marking the 125th anniversary of one of Ukraine’s oldest symphony orchestras.

The project has a particularly significant historical foundation. During the very first concert season of the Lviv Philharmonic and its orchestra, in April 1903, Gustav Mahler conducted the ensemble twice in Lviv. Alongside works by Beethoven, Berlioz and Wagner, his First Symphony was performed. More than 120 years later, the orchestra returns to this music — not only as one of the greatest works of the symphonic repertoire, but also as part of its own history.

Mahler wrote his First Symphony when he was just over thirty. It already contains everything that would later make him one of the greatest symphonists: poetic vision and monumental scale, tender lyricism and dramatic contrasts, sounds of nature, folk-inspired motifs and grand orchestral climaxes. From the mysterious dawn of the opening movement to the triumphant finale, the music takes the listener on a journey through discovery, doubt, struggle and victory.

This is precisely why the symphony symbolically opens “Mahler. The Journey.” It marks the beginning of two stories at once: the creative journey of a young Mahler and the ambitious musical journey of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Lviv National Philharmonic as it approaches its 125th anniversary.

The first event in this musical journey, which over the coming seasons will lead listeners through Gustav Mahler’s entire symphonic universe, will be conducted by Ihor Muraviov.

“Mahler. The Journey” offers an opportunity to hear all of Mahler’s symphonies as the composer conceived them: sequentially, from the First to the last. It is a journey through music that has moved audiences around the world for more than a century, and at the same time a return to a chapter of history that forever links Mahler with Lviv.