More than 400 musicians will interpret Austrian composer Gustav Mahler’s “Eighth Symphony” in Colombia’s capital city of Bogota.
According to the report, the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Symphony, along with Colombia’s preeminent choral organizations, plan to perform on October 15 and 16 at the Teatro Jorge Eliecer Gaitan.
The symphony will be conducted by Enrique Diemecke, who explained that the sheer size of the production pays homage to Mahler’s musical vision.
“[Mahler] always thought that nothing was more powerful than the imagination… and why not put an opera in two parts that could be changed,” says Diemecke, who first proposed this challenge. “You test your imagination from the first time you play his music, like everything was up in heaven, in the final congregation, forever.”
A massive choir will help add to the angelic sound Diemecke wishes to achieve with his interpretation of the Eighth Symphony. The Symphony Choir of the Opera de Colombia, Santa Cecilia Choir, Crescendo Children’s Choir and the Choir Music Foundation will all perform together in Bogota.
“There are a number of things we’ve been working on: you have to find the theater for space and for a proper sound,” said Maria Claudia Farias, a coordinator for the event. Plans are being made to broadcast the event on televeision,as well as on the Internet, and a DVD is planned be released in December.