Mahler Symphony No. 8
The 2010 International Arts Festival gathers gathers together the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra,
some of the world’s finest soloists, a children’s chorus, organ, brass and two large mixed choirs – of which Orpheus Choir of Wellington will be one – for a once only performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 8. This guaranteed sell-out performance will be led by world-renowned conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, opening the 2010 NZ International Arts Festival in spectacular style.
Widely recognised as one of the composer's greatest achievements, the premiere performance of this choral symphony – 100 years ago – in Munich on 12 September 1910, featured a chorus of about 850, with an orchestra of 171. This led to the popular naming of the work, ‘Symphony of a Thousand’.
The Eighth Symphony was a distillation of his most important ideas - the product of a lifetime of musical and literary influences and creative activity. Mahler began from the German tradition, incorporating the Romantic generation of composers. The main influence on his work, though, was Richard Wagner who, he said, was the only composer after Beethoven to truly have 'development' in his music. Mahler combined all these ideas with huge orchestral resources which the development of symphony orchestras made possible. The result was that he extended the understanding of symphonic form, as he searched for ways to expand his musical universe in living out his belief that a symphony should be an entire world.
For more information, including the Civic Square live relay, and for tickets, please see the 2010 NZ International Arts Festival website.
.png)
