Wiener Philharmoniker / Nézet-Séguin

Alban Berg regarded it as »the first work of New Music«, and the fact that it is now firmly established in the concert repertoire is a phenomenon that is still relatively recent in historical terms: Just under half of all performances of Gustav Mahler’s Ninth Symphony that have taken place at the Wiener Konzerthaus to date have occurred only in the 21st century; between the fourth performance here in 1928 and the next in 1960, there was even a gap of over three decades for reasons that are well known. There is therefore still much to be said about this epoch-making masterpiece, and so – following an »original sound« interpretation at the start of the season – the Wiener Philharmoniker are now performing it for the second time this season using modern instruments. Conducting the orchestra – which also performed the world premiere – is Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who has been a favourite of both the orchestra and the audience for some time now, not just since the last New Year’s Concert.