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Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Concert poster:

MAHLER AND STRAUSS

SATURDAY, JULY 18, 2009 . 8:00 pm

R. Strauss Don Juan
Mahler Symphony No. 5

Channing Yu, conductor

The Mercury Orchestra presents two of the most beautiful and exhilarating works of the Romantic era: Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and Richard Strauss’s Don Juan.

Where his previous symphonies were strongly tied to words of songs, Gustav Mahler sought to break away from a “program” with his Fifth Symphony, preferring to let the music speak for itself. The resulting work is powerful, poignant, brilliant, and immediate, and it is considered by many to represent Mahler’s finest orchestration. With the exception of the well-known, exquisitely tender Adagietto movement, which is scored for harp and strings, Mahler uses a large orchestra to deliver boldness, anguish, passion, and intimacy in this masterwork.

Richard Strauss’s tone poem Don Juan is a virtuosic tour-de-force for orchestra, which evocatively illustrates Don Juan’s incessant quest for new passion.

These two contrasting dramatic works have thrilled both new and seasoned concertgoers for over 100 years; the Mercury Orchestra invites you to experience them both in an exciting live performance.

Sanders Theatre, Harvard University
45 Quincy St., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Note: This performance has already taken place.

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