Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra/Dudamel

Gustavo Dudamel returns to the hall at the head of his ‘other’ orchestra: the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. There’s just one work, but Mahler’s mighty Symphony No 3 is a stand-alone masterpiece.

Famously, Mahler told Sibelius that a symphony ‘must be like the world: it must embrace everything’. And what a world is embraced by his Symphony No 3! The longest of Mahler’s symphonies it’s also one of the most ambitious. From the fruity 8-horns opening as Pan awakes, to the radiant love-infused finale described by one critic after the premiere as ‘perhaps the greatest adagio since Beethoven’, it’s a work of bold contrasts, exquisitely imagined colours, and all-consuming passions. Little wonder that after the first performance a 15-minute ovation recalled Mahler to the podium a dozen times.

French mezzo Marianne Crebassa ‘is truly a revelation’ insists Die Weld, while for the Los Angeles Times, ‘the overpowering grandeur of Dudamel’s Mahler Third is ultimately and irresistibly Utopian’.

Tagged with: Classical music Barbican Presents Visiting Orchestras More...

This performance will end at approximately 9.30pm. Please note there will be no interval.

Produced by the Barbican

This is a past event. Subscribe to our newsletters to hear about upcoming events

Digital programme