‘Music everyone can relate to,' Mahler's symphonies celebrated in Amsterdam festival
When Klaus Mäkelä climbed the Concertgebouw podium in Amsterdam and turned to the audience at the orchestra's third Gustav Mahler Festival in 105 years, the conductor could see the writing on the wall.
Facing him was 'MAHLER' etched in gold on a cartouche and shining in a spotlight, centred in a permanent position of honour among the 17 composers enshrined across the balcony front. And sitting in the first row directly behind the sign was Marina Mahler, the composer's 81-year-old granddaughter.
'It was just as it should be. I was terribly moved and excited at the same time,' she said after the final note of Mahler's Symphony No 1. 'It affected me in the deepest possible way.'
All 10 of Mahler's numbered symphonies are being presented in order along with his other major works from May 8-18, ending on the 114th anniversary of his death at age 50.
Ivan Fischer conducts the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Netherlands Radio Choir in Mahler's Symphony No 2 in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photo: AP
'This is in a way the first orchestra that really trusted in Mahler,' Mäkela said.
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