Sunday May 19 – Mahler’s First Symphony and Korngold’s Violin Concerto with Zoë Beyers and the MahlerFest Orchestra

Over a century after it reached its finished form, Mahler’s First Symphony remains one of the most audacious symphonic debuts in musical history, a true breakthrough. MahlerFest XXXII comes to a resounding conclusion in this gala concert which also includes Mahler’s own orchestration of Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3 and a performance of the stunning Violin Concerto by one of the leading composers to grow up under Mahler’s spell, Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

Violin soloist Zoë Beyers

May 19 – Sunday – Macky Auditorium, CU Campus

2:30pm – Pre-concert Conversation
3:30pm – Orchestral Concert

Save 20% when you purchase tickets for the Saturday and Sunday concerts at Macky Auditorium together.
Use code “BuyTwo” at checkout.

 

 

  • The Stan Ruttenberg Memorial Concert
  • Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major. World Premiere of the new Breitkopf & Härtel Critical Edition
  • Gustav Mahler: “Blumine” Symphonic Fragment. World Premiere of the new Breitkopf & Härtel Critical Edition
  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Violin Concerto (Zoë Beyers, violin)
  • Beethoven orchestrated by Mahler: Leonore Overture No. 3 (Published by Josef Weinberger)– Colorado Premiere!
  • Kenneth Woods conducting the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra
  • Reserved seating

No composer was closer to Mahler’s heart than Ludwig van Beethoven, and no work was more central to Mahler’s life as a conductor than Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio. Mahler’s production of Fidelio at the Vienna State Opera was possibly the highpoint of his legendary tenure as Artistic Director, and it was that production which also established the tradition of re-instating the Leonore Overture no. 3 into the second act of the opera. We are excited to present the first Colorado performance of Mahler’s own re-orchestration of this great overture.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was, like Benjamin Britten, one of the most astounding musical prodigies who ever lived. His musical genius found a perfect environment in which to develop in turn of the century Vienna, where his father was one of the leading music critics of the day during Mahler’s tenure at the Vienna Opera. Korngold was forced into exile after the Nazi Anschluss and made his way to Hollywood, where we was to found the modern school of film scoring. His Violin Concerto, possibly his most beloved work, was written for Jascha Heifetz. It is heard here in a performance by the leading South African violin soloist, Zoë Beyers.

It took many years for Mahler’s First Symphony to reach the form in which we now know it, but over the last century, it has become one of the most popular works in the symphonic literature. Kenneth Woods launches MahlerFest’s fourth complete Mahler cycle in this performance of the final version of the work based on a close study of Mahler’s working score in the New York Philharmonic archives.

Conductor Kenneth Woods