Mahler in Amsterdam, 14 May 2025

Day 6 in Amsterdam was quieter on the official schedule. This allowed me time to catch up with wonderful people I last saw in Sydney quite a few years ago: Gerard Willems, Eva Frey and their beautiful daughter Clara, who is now 7. We had lunch in a gorgeous art deco cafe very close to my hotel. It was a lovely time.

Tonight's concert in the Concertgebouw Mahler Festival gave us the opportunity to experience the enigmatic sixth symphony. It was played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jaap van Zweden. Van Zweden is no stranger to the Concertgebouw as he is a former concertmaster of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. It was also a joy to see a former Con High classmate, Mick Mulcahy, in the principal trombone chair.

This symphony is powerful on so many levels and ends in total despair. Van Zweden drove the piece with enormous energy and the CSO gave us what was to my mind the loudest performance of the festival so far. As always, it was a privilege to witness one of the world's great orchestras in action.

And for those wanting to know: scherzo second, and two hammer blows.

First posted on Facebook