Mäkelä conducts Mozart and Mahler with the Concertgebouw Orchestra

Klaus Mäkelä

Conductor Klaus Mäkelä uses the music of the Austrians Mozart, Mahler, and Larcher to guide the Concertgebouw Orchestra through several stylistic periods. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto places enormous demands on the soloist in terms of intonation, timing, and expression. Luckily, solo clarinettist Olivier Pate possesses those qualities in spades. The concert also features the Maurerische Trauermusik (Masonic Funeral Music): sober and profound pieces written by Mozart to honour two of his fellow members of the Masonic Lodge.

Gustav Mahler

The Concertgebouw Orchestra has a special relationship with Gustav Mahler, who composed his Tenth Symphony during a period of extreme personal crisis. Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that he never completed the work. The haunting Adagio is the only movement he finished. Thomas Larcher studied in Vienna, the city of Mozart and Mahler. Conductor Klaus Mäkelä calls Larcher’s Second Symphony ‘the best piece composed in the past twenty years’. The work presents a true burst of energy and contains clear hints of both classical composers and Mahler.