SEASON CONCERT 6: MAHLER’S FAREWELL

Friday 19.04.2024 at 6pm Concert Hall

At 5 pm Atrium
LAUNCH OF THE AUTUMN 2024 PROGRAMME

At 5.30 pm Atrium
PRE-TALK

Kuopio Symphony Orchestra
Jyväskylä Sinfonia
Eugene Tzigane, conductor

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No 9

Rather than a ‘farewell to life and to the world’, Mahler’s 9th Symphony is a cathartic work in which the he comes to accept and thus releases himself from the pain and suffering of several catastrophic events that befell him in 1907. Beginning with the death of his elder daughter, Mahler was then diagnosed with a dangerous heart condition. Soon after, he learned of his wife, Alma’s infidelity. The final blow came when he was forced to relinquish his post as General Musikdirektor of the Vienna State Opera.

Instead of succumbing to the trauma, Mahler found solace in composing his 9th. Like an alchemist, he created meaning from his suffering by transforming it into music that expresses the entire gamut of the human experience. Experiencing the 9th can be a daunting and harrowing experience as a listener. We are confronted with our mortality and the fragility of life, the fleeting joys of youth & love, the cacophony & senselessness of big cities, and the injustice of societies and disease. But as Nietzsche once wrote, “Art… alone may transform these horrible reflections on the terror and absurdity of existence into representations with which man may live.” Mahler used his art to process his life’s most difficult moments. The resultant musical journey may be arduous, but we just might experience a catharsis of our own along the way. (Eugene Tzigane)

Produced by the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra
Tickets: 33 € / 27 € senior citizens and groups min. 20 persons / 11 € children under the age of 16 and students
4 € concert day discount ticket for students and young people under the age of 20

Prices include the Kuopio Music Centre service fee 2 € / ticket. The service fees vary depending on the place of purchase.