Gustavo Gimeno - Mahler's Fifth Symphony

Mahler's all-encompassing symphony

Gustav Mahler began work on his Fifth Symphony in the summer of 1901, shortly after he had been seriously ill. Immediately after this summer, he met the intelligent, musical and much-desired Alma Schindler, whom he married four months later. The famous Adagietto from the Fifth plays such a prominent role in Visconti's cinematic masterpiece Death in Venice, which is seen as Mahler's declaration of love for Alma. "A symphony must be like the world; it must encompass everything", Mahler once said. And that is exactly what this Fifth Symphony does: it contains just about all the emotions you can have as a human being.

Gustavo Gimeno and his Luxembourg Philharmonic

Performances in the Concertgebouw are always a kind of home game for Gustavo Gimeno. Not only because he regularly performed for the Concertgebouw Orchestra but also because he was a solo percussionist in the same orchestra between 2001 and 2013. This time, he comes with his own Luxembourg Philharmonic. Their Fourth by Mahler, which they recorded on CD, received rave reviews. This time, Gimenez conducts Mahler's Fifth Symphony.