Jaime Conducts Schubert & Mahler

Where, in spite of it all, through deep introspection and inspiration, consolation is found. For Gustav Mahler, it was through The Song of the Earth , his ninth symphony in all but name.

After the death of his four-year-old daughter Maria, the breakdown of his marriage, the forced resignation from his position in Vienna and the diagnosis of a heart condition which would prove fatal, Mahler was at his lowest ebb in 1907.

From this period of intense grief came the orchestral song cycle for two voices, capturing the precariousness of life and a quiet acquiescence to death. For the audience, it is an irrefutably emotional event.

Schubert’s Unfinished Eighth Symphony provides another perspective of the fleeting nature of happiness. Beginning in darkness, moments of levity rise only to continually dissolve into shadow. Just two movements exist, elegant and grand, with a sense of mystery that never fully resolves.

Our Chief Conductor’s background as a chamber musician could not be more important here. Jaime’s innate understanding and deftness of touch, coupled with the unique skills of our players, allows the MSO to appear as both chamber ensemble and symphony orchestra in one heartrending evening.