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Florida Orchestra to perform revolutionary Mahler work
The Florida Orchestra
Stefan Sanderling, The Florida Orchestra's music director, calls Symphony No. 3 ''the quintessence of Mahler's works.''
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Published: October 22, 2009
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TAMPA - This weekend, The Florida Orchestra will perform a symphony that exemplifies art imitating life. Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 expresses nature's complex dualities — joy and sadness, hope and despair, birth and death. It is a romantic microcosm of flora and fauna that reflects Mahler's own conflicts in life.
"He was the most famous conductor of his time, but he was never liked. He was always an outsider," said Stefan Sanderling, the orchestra's music director. "There's a lot of struggle in this piece, (with) hope for a catharsis at the end. Mahler was this kind of person. (Symphony No. 3) is the quintessence of Mahler's works."
Bohemian-born Mahler was Austria's leading composer and conductor during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a romanticist and modernist in still-traditional Viennese society, drawing scorn from music critics and admiration from the public.
He crafted Symphony No. 3 over a period of 5 to 8 years in the 1890s. At 1 hour and 40 minutes, it's considered the longest symphony in the standard repertoire. More important than the pronounced length, however, are the structure and content.
"The way the drama is created is very operatic. I would describe it as a very personal and revolutionary way of creating music. It has a lot to do with personal testimony, which was completely new 100 years ago," Sanderling said.
The program also features the Women's Chorus of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay Children's Chorus and mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer. Mahler never articulated why he included a women's choir or the pure voices of children in his music. Perhaps he never had to. He felt that it was right, and sometimes feelings defy explanation.
"The emotional impact is so clear. That is one of the strong points of Mahler's music. You see the urge to embrace the world and you see the composer's urge to describe his view of the world. You don't have to understand anything about music to still feel its beauty and richness," Sanderling said.
CONCERT PREVIEW
Mahler's Symphony No. 3
WHAT: Masterworks with conductor Stefan Sanderling, the Women's Chorus of the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay Children's Chorus and mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer
WHEN AND WHERE: 8 p.m. Friday at Carol Morsani Hall, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa; 8 p.m. Saturday at Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg; 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater
TICKETS: $20 to $67; call (727) 892-3337 or 1-800-662-7286, or go to www.floridaorchestra.org
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