Mahler 2

Experience Mahler’s transcendent masterpiece as more than 200 musicians and singers take you on an unforgettable journey filled with breathtaking melodies, powerful climaxes, and its famous awe-inspiring finale.

Celebrate nature’s return with a program that explores the triumph of resurrection through Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. The Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Charleston Southern University Concert Singers, along with two guest vocalists, will join the CSO for an unforgettable concert led by conductor Mikhail Agrest.

Mahler 2 – The Resurrection Symphony

Of his Second Symphony, Gustav Mahler wrote to a friend, “The whole thing sounds as though it came to us from some other world. I think there is no one who can resist it. One is battered to the ground and then raised on angel’s wings to the highest heights.”

Mahler often traversed themes of life and death, darkness and light, doubt and affirmation, joy and agony in his music; this mighty symphony is no different. It was written as a continuation of sorts of his First Symphony, with the funeral march of the hero in the First being heard in the opening movement of the Second. Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony is an unrestrained journey that is indeed made irresistible through the ingenious mind of the composer; it is obvious that he honed every detail with careful consideration. The use of dramatic pause, his eventual but intentional inclusion of solo and choral voices, and the emotional resounding of its finale are but a few examples within.

Music Director of the Stuttgart Ballet, Mikhail Agrest is no stranger to interpreting and commanding the dramatic musical arts. His conducting presence on the international stage includes experience with top ballet, opera, and orchestra groups across the globe. Born in Russia and raised in Charleston, this concert will be a homecoming after nearly 15 years when he last conducted the CSO.

MORE ON THE MUSIC & ARTISTS:

• Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 is prominently featured in the 2023 film Maestro with actor Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein famously conducting the piece. Watch one of the most epic scenes from the movie below, with Cooper conducting the finale at Ely Cathedral.
• In the Charleston City Paper, Lindsay Koob wrote [of Agrest’s debut with the Charleston Symphony in 2010], “the evening’s triumph belonged to Mikhail.”
• In 1901 program notes for his Second Symphony, Mahler wrote of its ending, “A feeling of overwhelming love fills us with blissful knowledge and illuminates our existence.”
• British-born Canadian mezzo-soprano Susan Platts brings a uniquely rich and wide-ranging voice to concert and recital repertoire for alto and mezzo-soprano, particularly esteemed for her performances of Gustav Mahler’s works. The New York Times described Susan as: “…the most consistently satisfying, with a lush, dark tone.”

PROGRAM

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection”

ARTISTS

Mikhail Agrest, Conductor
Martha Guth, Soprano
Susan Platts, Mezzo-Soprano
Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus (Nicholas Quardokus, Director)
Charleston Southern University Concert Singers, (Ricard Bordas, Director)