Gemma New Leads NZSO For Mahler’s Powerhouse Sixth Symphony

For the first time in more than a decade, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra performs one of the most powerful symphonic works ever written: Gustav Mahler’s monumental Sixth Symphony.

The 80-minute musical equivalent of a movie blockbuster, Mahler 6 in Wellington and Auckland features more than 100 players, including two harps, off-stage bells and the famous unforgettable sound of giant hammer blows.

NZSO Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor Gemma New leads the orchestra for this colossal masterpiece. Her interpretations of Mahler with the NZSO have earned widespread praise for their depth and clarity. Maestra New’s 2023 performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony was hailed by the New Zealand Herald as “incisive” and the conductor was “in her element.”

A distinctive feature of the Sixth Symphony is what came to be known as “the Mahler hammer.” The composer asked for a sound produced by an instrument that’s “brief and mighty but dull in resonance and with a non-metallic character — like the fall of an axe.”

Orchestras since have employed a variety of giant wooden hammers hitting a wooden box to generate the hair-raising sound. A group of NZSO players and staff have constructed a new hammer and wooden box specifically for the two concerts, where the hammer will be wielded in each performance by NZSO Section Principal Percussionist Leonard Sakofsky.

“I am so grateful to my fantastic colleagues that have spent much time and energy building fantastic instruments for this project,” says Sakofsky.

“The hammer and box are truly one of a kind and are exquisite pieces of art in their own right. I am honoured to play them and look forward to striking the mighty blows of fate.”

Acclaimed American composer Aaron Copland praised Mahler symphonies as “music that is full of human frailties” and “years in advance of their time.”

“His symphonies are suffused with personality – he has his own way of doing and saying everything.”

Nicknamed the ‘Tragic’ symphony for its emotional intensity and dramatic structure, Mahler wrote his sixth during a happy time of his life. However, the symphony predicted the tragedies which lay ahead for the composer, including the loss of his job, the death of a daughter and a serious heart condition.

COMING UP

Stabat Mater – conductor Valentina Peleggi, Soprano Madison Nonoa, Mezzo-Soprano Anna Pierard, Tenor Filipe Manu, Voices New Zealand Wellington (2 Oct) & Auckland (3 Oct).

Four Seasons

– conductor and violinist Pekka Kuusisto, Wellington (9 Oct) & Christchurch (11 Oct).

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