Following successful debuts in both opera houses and concerts halls across Europe and North America, British-American conductor Johann Stuckenbruck is fast establishing himself as an outstanding talent on the international stage. Salomon Orchestra are excited to be working with him for this performance of Mahler’s epic seventh symphony.

Composed in the summers of 1904 and 1905, the symphony was orchestrated in 1906 and premiered in Prague in 1908. Set in 5 movements and composed in ‘progressive tonality’ as opposed to a single key, the harmonic and stylistic structure of the symphony may be viewed as a depiction of the journey from dusk to dawn. The three years between the symphony’s completion and first performance were extremely turbulent for Mahler. In 1905 he was at the height of his fame as a conductor, and his reputation as a composer was in the ascendency. By March 1907 he had to resign his position at the Vienna State Opera, as the Viennese public had turned against him. (Hence the Symphony’s premier in Prague). In July, his eldest daughter died of scarlet fever, and almost simultaneously he received the diagnosis of an incurable heart condition.