A Union of Talents

Thanks to a partnership between the Franz Schubert Filharmonia and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the two ensembles will come together under the baton of Tomàs Grau to perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, a work that celebrates hope and resurrection.

Also featuring the impressive vocal talents of the National Choir of Colombia and soloists Katja Maderer and Martina Baroni, this event will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Franz Schubert Filharmonia.

A Symphonic World

When Mahler composed symphonies, an orchestra of 70 or 80 players wasn’t enough – if he could have 120, so much the better. And he never picked up his pen unless he was going to write a piece at least an hour long. With this grandeur of vision he composed nine symphonies, nine works that reflected his own thoughts on the genre: “A symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything.” In his Second, he followed in the footsteps of Beethoven and Mendelssohn by incorporating writing for massed choral forces into the symphonic structure to construct a powerful and monumental work. The intense, dramatic music initially inspired by Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock’s poem Resurrection has made this work a favourite with audiences. Such is the renown of Mahler Two that when the original manuscript was put up for auction it sold for a record-breaking £4.5 million, the highest price ever paid for a manuscript score.