Concerts Reviewed (all performed at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam)

May 14, 1920

Symphony no. 6, A minor, Gustav Mahler

Kindertotenlieder, Gustav Mahler

May 15, 1920

Five songs, Gustav Mahler

Symphony no. 7, Gustav Mahler

May 17, 1920

Das Lied von der Erde, Gustav Mahler

May 18, 1920

Symphony no. 9, D-Db minor, Gustav Mahler

May 21, 1920

Symphony no. 8, E-flat minor, Gustav Mahler

Amsterdam has recently given musicians an infinitely moving show.

In 1895, Willem Mengelberg conducted at the Concertgebouw for the first time, after having played Beethoven's [Piano] Concerto in E-flat.

He was a very young man, but his powerful technical mastery, his thoughtful and passionate interpretation, his command over the audience, already marked him as one of those who are called to light the way. From that moment, he has been linked to the Concertgebouw, and, with a stride that nothing could stop, he stepped into one of the most glorious careers that could be. An indefatigable worker, a luminous, determined mind: he generated around himself an atmosphere of activity and enthusiasm, and soon, his orchestra became one of the best in the world.

Twenty-five years have passed—and to mark this date, Amsterdam has just organised an event with a dual nature, demonstrating what the influence of a man and the devotion of an audience can do.

To understand the precise meaning of these celebrations, it is necessary to know that for the past seventeen years, Mengelberg, with a fervor that has never failed, has devoted the greatest effort of his life to disseminating the works of Mahler, whom he considers among the great, but neglected, geniuses of music.

The Concertgebouw therefore considered that there was no better way to honor Mengelberg than to help him to serve the faith for which he has fought so hard; and for his Jubilee, they gave him the means to perform the complete works of Gustav Mahler.