Recording from 05. Jun 2024

Mahler 8

MAHLER 8 – "Symphony of the Thousands" – now finally available on Bergenphilive!

The 2024 Bergen International Festival closed with Mahler's tremendous 8th symphony. The final concert at the 2024 Bergen International Festival was conductor Edward Gardner’s farewell concert.

Edward Gardner was Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra from 2015 to 2024. His last concert in the role of Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra was the monumental Mahler's 8th Symphony.

Mahler's 8th is one of the greatest orchestral and choral works in the classical repertoire and is rarely performed. The work has been called the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’, and requires eight soloists and several choirs, in addition to the orchestra.

‘Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound. There are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving.’ the composer said of his eighth symphony. When the work was premiered in 1910, with Mahler conducting, it broke all the rules and boundaries of what symphonies could and should be.

Photo: Thor Brødreskift