On September 12, 1910, Gustav Mahler conducted the Munich Philharmonic in the world premiere of his monumental Eighth Symphony. The performance - his final conducting appearance in Europe - was an overwhelming critical and popular triumph. Nicknamed the “Symphony of a Thousand” for the vast instrumental and choral forces it requires, Mahler’s Eighth remains one of the most ambitious works in the classical repertoire. Mahler himself understood its extraordinary place in his output, remarking: “Th

Gustav Mahler was born on this day in 1860! Mahler was one of Leonard Bernstein's most beloved composers, and his passion for Mahler contributed to the composer’s resurgent popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in Europe. "The only difficulty in conducting Mahler is durability, the ability to last, a simple physical problem of maintaining the intensity, concentration and physical energy that is required. . .emotional energy. . . , tension, nervous energy, which is required to take a la