Mahler Anniversary Concert

Where the darkness of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony (performed on 14 January) seems to end with a resounding ‘No’, its predecessor retains its fighting spirit from the single trumpet fanfare of its opening moments to the cock-a-hoop orchestral flourish of its closing ones. In between is an epic tussle between mourning and rapture. The music is assured, sweeping, changeable and hair-raising. Mahler had come of age. And if his trumpet heralds a new orchestral style, then Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto wrapped up history’s most remarkable cycle of concertos with suitably explosive and emotive power.

Hear it first - visit www.lpo.org.uk/listen for our online playlist of the music for our concerts.