Experience one of the most breathtaking rides in the symphonic repertoire: Mahler’s colossal Third Symphony. This critically acclaimed performance sees the MSO firing on all cylinders under its ever-popular Chief Conductor Jaime Martin, joined by the MSO Chorus, Young Voices of Melbourne and charismatic American mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis in her Australian debut. At the time Mahler composed this work in 1902, a ‘symphony’ typically had a standard structure comprised of four movements. In approaching his Third Symphony however, Mahler sought first and foremost to create a ‘world’, and to allow the shape of this ‘world’ to dictate the work’s final form. The longest symphony in the standard repertoire - and arguably Mahler’s greatest, the symphony begins with a Dionysian funeral march as Summer arrives and the Greek god Pan awakes, before the flowers, animals, humanity, angels, and love bestow their wisdom upon the listener in the second half. This ancient world in two parts, comprised of six movements, embodied a radical modernity that challenged the very identity of the symphony. The Age critic Barney Zwartz wrote in his 5-star review, “Martín and his massive forces…met every challenge with panache, while the section principals covered themselves with distinction in their various solo requirements. …Jaime Martín kept the tension taught throughout.”