Programme:

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 6 in A minor

Almost the whole of European musical heritage is reflected in the work of the Staatskapelle Dresden. Founded in 1548, it is one of the oldest orchestras in the world. Heinrich Schütz was associated with the orchestra early in its existence, while in the 19th century Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner each served as Hofkapellmeister. In the 20th century Richard Strauss became closely associated with the orchestra, which premiered several of his works. Italian conductor Daniele Gatti has been chief conductor since 2024, having first guest-conducted the orchestra in 2000. Gatti is also music director of the Orchestra Mozart, the newly appointed music director of the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and artistic advisor of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 belongs to the composer’s second symphonic period, in which he abandoned the use of the human voice and devoted himself entirely to orchestral expression. In these works Mahler no longer offers such clear extramusical allusions or programmes but instead builds an exceptionally cohesive symphonic structure marked by dense contrapuntal rhetoric and pronounced polyphony. The Sixth Symphony was written during a period of personal contentment for the composer, yet it nevertheless unfolds as one of his darkest and most relentless creations. The symphony’s dramatic arc leads from the forceful, march-like first movement through grotesque and ironic transformations to a slow movement of restrained lyricism, while the concluding finale, with its famous hammer blows, outlines a vision of fateful collapse.