The opening of the 2024-25 season will be celebrated by the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic with a performance of Gustav Mahler’s epic Symphony No 3 in D minor.

The concert, led by Music Director Kazuki Yamada, will also feature mezzo-soprano Gerhild Romberger as guest soloist, with the Women’s Choir of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and the Children’s Choir of the Académie Rainier III.

Mahler’s Symphony No 3, subtitled A Journey Through Nature and Humanity, explores the relationship between nature and human life. Mahler took as his inspiration two important books by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche – The Happy Science (Meine fröhliche Wissenschaft) – at one stage, this was considered as a title for the whole symphony – and the other was Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Also sprach Zarathustra), a text of which was used in the fourth movement.

Mahler sketched out the Symphony at the beginning in 1893. It was composed mainly in 1895, and completed in 1896. Performances of the incomplete work took place prior to 1902, but the complete Symphony was first presented in Krefeld, Germany on June 9 of that year.

At one and a half hours in duration, it is the longest symphony in the standard repertoire. It was written in six movements. Part I is the Introduction, titled Pan’s Awakening, and Part II consists of the other five movements – titled What the Flowers of the Field Tell Me, What the Animals of the Forest Tell Me, What Man Tells Me, What the Angels Tell Me and What Love (God) Tells Me respectively. Mahler himself said of the work: “The symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything!”

As a concert performer, German mezzo-soprano Gerhild Romberger has a wide-ranging repertoire which covers all major contralto and mezzo-soprano parts in the oratorio and concert repertoire – including the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods, as well as 20th century music. Highlights of her career include Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in Paris, with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra – part of the International Music Festival in Hamburg – with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon and in Mahler’s Symphony No 3 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, comprises 180 vocalists – both men and women – having been trained for almost 40 years by Simon Halsey CBE. With four Grammy Awards to its credit, the Chorus performs in the main with the CBSO, and has also appeared with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, such as the Vienna and Berlin philharmonics. It has a wide-ranging repertoire, from Bach to Henze, the Mahler symphonies and the CBSO’s famous annual carol concerts, and has toured Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. This concert features only the Women of the CBSO Chorus, under the direction of Julian Wilkins.

The Choir of Children of the Rainier III Academy, under the leadership of choirmaster Bruno Habert, makes a short appearance in the fifth movement of the Symphony, singing of the eternal cycle of life and death.

Kazuki Yamada leads the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No 3 on Sunday 22nd September, at 3.00 pm, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. For further information and ticket reservations, visit the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra website.

Lead image by Larisa Birta on Unsplash; edited (cropped)