Mahler: Symphony No. 7

Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 in the full cycle from Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, one of Europe’s most historically resonant orchestras with a conductor internationally recognised for his structural command and interpretive integrity. The Orchestra occupies a distinctive place within Mahler’s geographical and cultural landscape – Mahler was born and brought up in Bohemia and completed his first symphony shortly after spending a year in Prague. Mahler symphonies have been central to Bychkov’s programming with the Czech Philharmonic since 2018 when he opened his tenure as Chief Conductor and Music Director with performances of Mahler Symphony No. 2

The composer certainly struggled with Symphony No. 7 in E Minor (1904–05). Having drafted its second and fourth movements, his inspiration dried up. Eventually, Mahler found the necessary stimulus on a boat journey across the Wörthersee, when he perceived the rhythm and character of the Symphony’s opening theme ‘at the first stroke of the oars’. What emerged, however, was a work of even more violent contrasts and dissonances, described in an Orphean return from hell, the eerie and amorous nocturnes of the second and fourth movements and a central dance on the edge of madness.

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Semyon Bychkov – conductor