Sat 12 Nov
G. Mahler
Symphony No. 3
8:30pm | St. Stephen's Cathedral
Mahler in St. Stephen's Cathedral - this combination already produced a magnificent concert last year and promises an impressive performance again this year. With Mahler's 3rd Symphony, a timeless work awaits you, which can hardly be surpassed in expressiveness.
"Symphony means to me: to build a world with all the means of existing technique." With these words Gustav Mahler describes the approach to his symphonic compositions. Hardly any other quote applies better to his 3rd Symphony, for it is truly a world that opens up before us when listening to this piece - from the first entry of the orchestra, where the horns blow a powerful march, to the sustained hymn that unites all the timbres of the instruments.
The alto solo O Mensch! Gib acht! from Friedrich Nietzsche's Also sprach Zarathustra thematizes the human condition itself, before Mahler subsequently invokes the religious dimension in the children's chorus Es sungen drei Engel. The third symphony is full of striking leitmotifs and themes that stay with one for a long time. The composer's intention to depict nature, man and life in an impressive musical form is more than successful.
Lux Aeterna Orchestra and Vox Aeterna Choir are composed of students from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) and the Music and Arts Private University (MUK). They are united by the joy of making music together.
Thus, St. Stephen's Cathedral as a special sound space is excellently suited for a work of this size and allows its epochal effect to come to the fore even more - an acoustically unique concert experience.