‘Brussels Philharmonic’

Gustav Mahler composed his dark and tragic Symphony No. 6 at the very height of his career. It is a musical self-portrait in which he appears to predict the blows life would have in store for him: the death of his young daughter, his dismissal as a conductor and his incurable heart disease. The mirror he holds up to life sometimes reveals a painful view of humanity – obsessive, destructive and always self-harming. The Brussels Philharmonic and its chief conductor, Stéphane Denève, will display the composer’s incredible capacity to let the light pass through life’s cracks, with humour, sincerity and love.