Alan Gilbert Conducts Maher’s Third Symphony

Over the past few weeks, Alan Gilbert has led performances of Mahler’s massive and transcendent Third Symphony with both the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Hamburg’s NDR Symphony Orchestra. The Stockholm performances were the first subscription concerts Gilbert led there since June 2008, when Gilbert finished his eight-season tenure as Chief Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the orchestra. Both audiences and critics alike treated Gilbert to a hero’s welcome on his return. Thomas Anderberg reported for the Dagens Nyheter, “Alan Gilbert made on Thursday a grand triumphal return before a packed concert hall. And it strikes you, that his initially quite discrete period with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in the long term might look like a golden era.” Anderberg continued at length:

“In most orchestras there exists shadows of the past that determines the assessment of future efforts. In the case of the New York Philharmonic, the orchestra that Gilbert is now to take over, it is mainly two. One is Gustav Mahler, whose controversial actions as an orchestra leader in New York is depicted in the recent – 1700 pages long! – final part of Henry-Louis de La Grange’s Mahler biography. The other is Leonard Bernstein, who during his sojourn with the orchestra in the sixties, not least made himself famous for his Mahler interpretations. It is against these the RSPO’s former Chief Conductor Alan Gilbert is to be measured. Recently he conducted in New York a program of Bernstein works, and later this spring he will lead a performance of Mahler’s First Symphony. Against this background it is reassuring that Alan Gilbert has proven to be a great Mahler interpreter.”

Stefan Forsberg, Executive and Artistic Director of the Stockholm Concert Hall Foundation and RSPO, commented on the occasion: “Alan’s return to Stockholm as Conductor Laureate was one of the most memorable moments in the history of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. With this unforgettable performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony, Alan’s interpretative brilliance and artistry once again totally amazed us all.”

Thankfully, New Yorkers eager to hear Gilbert’s take on Mahler’s Third can look forward to his plans to conduct the work in his first subscription week as the new Music Director of the New York Philharmonic (September 17, 18 and 22).

# # #