Mahler First Performance

It is such a feat and experience to play a Mahler symphony.  Perhaps more so than any other composer's music, these works create a really feeling of communal effort.  At the end, everyone has been through a lot together.  The parts are all demanding, requiring technical preparation; the sheer length requires incredible focus and endurance; and the emotional highs and lows, the spiritual significance in Mahler's efforts, cannot be ignored.  Mentally, physically, emotionally it is a musical workout and we get to do it together.  It was a thrill to play with my colleagues today, the extramusical meaning of the occasion aside.  Tomorrow there will more gatherings and moments of silence in remembrance for those taken in the earthquake 20 years ago.  And the symphony will likely bear much more weight and meaning in this regard than it did today.  Every performance carries something new.