Mahler 2

Season kick-off with Mahler! For his debut as the new principal conductor of the Basel Symphony Orchestra, Markus Poschner brings Gustav Mahler's 2nd Symphony, Resurrection. The monumental work for large orchestra, choir, organ, and soprano and alto soloists features quotes from medieval requiems, with sounding stairways to heaven and a touchingly simple, glowing ‘urlicht’ (light of the world). The symphony owes its nickname to the fifth and final movement, in which the choir sings the words ‘You will rise from the dust, after a short rest’ in a mysterious piano. Mahler then draws on all the vocal and instrumental forces to build the symphony up to a magnificent final apotheosis. ‘An almighty feeling of love shines through us,’ the composer wrote about the intended effect of his music. A new era could not begin in a better way.