Completed in 1896, the Symphony No. 3 by Gustav Mahler provides a full evening’s music in itself and is the largest-scale work in the history of the genre, a whole world captured in sounds. Not only is it beautiful, powerful and expressive music, but it also has an exciting associated narrative. Each movement has a different conceptual background, proclaiming the unity of man and nature with vivid metaphorical colour: the awakening of Pan and the arrival of summer; the tales of meadow flowers and animals of the forest; a deep confession philosophising on questions of human existence; the playful and bell-like music of an angelic children’s choir. It is as if Mahler were painting a portrait of an entire life in the work, the famous finale of which is the music of love: it conveys everything in the language of music which cannot be expressed in words.
The superb conductor for this evening is highly familiar with this world and with the Mahler tradition, since he was raised in a similar Austrian culture to that of the composer himself. Having studied with Franco Ferrara in Rome and with Hans Swarowsky in Vienna, Günter Neuhold won first prizes at a series of competitions in the 1970s, launching his international career. His most recent commission, as music director of the long-established Bilbao Symphony Orchestra since 2008, came to an end in 2014. He is a recognised conductor of late Romantic works, having recorded not only several of Mahler’s symphonies but also works by Liszt, Bartók and Kodály, as well as Wagner’s tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung. He is also familiar to the Hungarian public, having appeared as one of the conductors at the 2014 May Celebration at the Opera House in Budapest.

Presented by: Hungarian National Philharmonic