Programme:

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C minor “Resurrection”

The London Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1904, is one of Europe’s best-known symphonic ensembles, celebrated for its faultless technical precision and its stylistic breadth. It maintains its reputation through international tours, artistic residencies, digital projects and an extensive discography. Since the 2024/25 season, the orchestra has been led by Sir Antonio Pap pano, whose collaboration with the LSO dates back to 1996. Before taking up his current appointment, Sir Antonio was music director of London’s Royal Opera House for 22 years. Also appearing is the Kaunas State Choir, renowned for a broad repertoire stretching from the Middle Ages to the present day. The soloists are Maria Bengtsson, known for her roles in the operas of Richard Strauss and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Noa Beinart, who has appeared with the Vienna State Opera in performances of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle. Maestro Pappano last appeared in Slovenia with the LSO in 2024, when the programme included Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony. On this occasion he presents the even more monumental Symphony No. 2 in C minor, known as the “Resurrection” Symphony, in which Mahler explores questions of life, death and the meaning of existence, while drawing together the diverse musical currents of the entire 19th century. The work combines intimate lyrical passages, dance-like interludes and dramatic outbursts, reflecting the unresolved tension between tradition and modernity that Mahler embodied. The final movement, with chorus and two solo voices, introduces elements of the biblical and the transcendental, as Mahler sketches a vision that, at the turn of the century, foreshadowed the seismic shifts in Western European musical thought.