Simon Rattle to Conduct Mahler with the London Symphony Orchestra in 2018

Earlier this season I was lucky enough to have seen Simon Rattle conduct two Mahler symphonies at Carnegie Hall.  In October, he led the Philadelphia Orchestra in a performance of the No. 6 and then in November, in one of his last outings as Music Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker, he conducted the No. 7.  Both concerts represented brilliant interpretations of Mahler's music, among the very best I've heard.

I was very pleased then when I received an email earlier this week announcing the 2017-2018 season of Great Performers at Lincoln Center and learned that Maestro Rattle will be leading the London Symphony Orchestra in May 2018 in still more performances of Mahler's music.  On May 4th, the Ninth Symphony will be performed; on May 6th, Das Lied von der Erde; and finally, on May 7th, the Tenth Symphony as completed by the late British musicologist Deryck Cooke.  These performances promise to be among the highlights of next season and shouldn't be missed by anyone who appreciates Mahler's music.

There are other events scheduled for the Great Performers series that are almost equally exciting.  Gustavo Dudamel will be conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic on two dates in late April 2018 in performances that will include Beethoven's Ninth and Shostakovich's Fifth; in January, Iván Fischer will lead the Budapest Festival Orchestra in Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony; and in October, John Eliot Gardiner will explore Monteverdi's influence on early opera in performances of Orfeo, The Return of Ulysses, and The Coronation of Poppea.  As for recitals, Christian Tetzlaff will perform two sonatas and two partitas by J.S. Bach for solo violin on March 28th; and Richard Goode will play works by Brahms, Debussy, Beethoven, Haydn, and Janáček on April 17th.

Years ago, the Great Performers offered some of the finest music available in New York City but then in recent years fell behind in the level of performances offered.  It seems that the Lincoln Center series is now attempting to regain its former stature and once again showcase classical music's foremost artists.