Mahler completed his Symphony No. 8 in 1906. The one-and-a-half-hour work has two movements: the first builds on the Latin hymn Veni Creator Spiritus and the second is inspired by the final scene of Goethe's Faust. If the first movement is a monumental motet, the second approaches opera.
The piece did not premier until 1910, in Munich, directed by the composer. Emil Gutmann, who organised the concert, dubbed the work the "Symphony of a Thousand" because of the 858 singers and 171 instrumental musicians required to perform it.
Mahler's Symphony No. 8 did not premiere in Hungary until 1983, when it was performed in the capital's Sport Stadium. Since then, it has been performed just three times, making the two performances on Friday and Saturday a rare treat indeed.
19:30 - Friday, February 8
Béla Bartók National Concert Hall
Conductor: Zoltán Kocsis
Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E flat major
Mahler: Symphony No. 8 in E flat major
Featuring: Ildikó Cserna, Tünde Szabóki, Cleo Mitilineou, Bernadett Wiedemann, Andrea Meláth, Attila Fekete, András Káldi Kiss, Krisztián Cser - singers, Hungarian National Choir (choirmaster: Mátyás Antal), MR Music Groups (choirmasters: Kálmán Strausz, Gabriella Thész)
Source: Fidelio
