Opening Night: Mahler 10 in Glasgow by Mahler, Glazunov, A., Alates (2015/2015), Dirigent Donald Runnicles, City Halls, Glasgow, United Kingdom

It was the artistic equivalent of the raising of the Titanic. When musicologist Deryck Cooke completed Mahler’s unfinished final symphony, he uncovered a lost masterpiece filled with puzzles and allusions; a work where cries of love and cries of pain finally resolve in music of shattering honesty and heart-breaking beauty. This is music that explores the great questions of life; and as Donald Runnicles guides us to the heart of Mahler’s final musical testament, there’s no more powerful way to open our new season. The songful violin concerto by “Russian Mendelssohn” Alexander Glazunov forms the brightest of contrasts, and with the glorious tone of James Ehnes, it’ll sparkle like new.