Vasily Petrenko's Mahler: Symphony of a Thousand | Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Even by Mahler’s standards, his Symphony No 8, nicknamed ‘Symphony of a Thousand’, is a work of immense proportions.

Vasily Petrenko, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s new Music Director, is joined onstage by a line up of soloists, massed choirs and an organ, for what promises to be a titanic performance of this rarely heard masterpiece. Written in two halves, Part I employs the text of a 9th century hymn ‘Veni Creator Spiritus’ (‘Come Creator Spirit’), and Part II – inspired by the final scene of Goethe’s Faust – sees Faust’s soul rescued from the clutches of the Devil, then ascend to Heaven in a blaze of glory.