It may not have been the largest orchestra to have ever appeared on the stage of the Philharmonie, but it must certainly have been close. Mahler’s unwieldy, awe-inspiring Third symphony belongs to a small group of works from the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century – other pieces include Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder and Mahler’s own Eighth symphony – that tested late romanticism to destruction by seeing how large it was possible to go. Mahler’s Third calls for more of everything – more double basses, more percussion, more choirs – but rewards the audience commensurately. Contrary to the famous pronouncement of Mies van der Rohe, sometimes more is actually more. As part of Berlin’s Musikfest, the symphony was given a suitably expansive performance from Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra. Alan Gilbert of the New York…
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