After this difficult year, just celebrate as much as you can. Then wake up on the first day of the new year and, having listened to your playlist thousands of times the night before, dive deep into the magical universe of Gustav Mahler.
Of course, the Fifth Symphony, through the Visconti film, has been quoted, played and heard too many times. But there is a very large cosmos of other works by Mahler that will ground you and can calmly accompany you as you clean up the balloons and confetti. Then sit down again and let it all sink in, the powerful sounds and the subtle musical nuances.
Throughout the year, Mahler accompanies us with fantastic concerts in the media libraries. Switch off and let go, with one of the greatest composers and conductors. His understanding of music is more than clear from the sounds of nature, but just as much from the hectic city life. His impressive work in Vienna, New York and Hamburg. Spherical sound worlds and the constant confrontation with life and transience. Gustav Mahler died in 1911. Especially the ninth symphony is a testimony, for pain and for eternity. (Image from "The Mahler Album, Gilbert Kaplan, ed., 1995)
For me, Claudio Abbado is the best interpreter of the work. Great cinema and full emotional force that will take you and accompany you through the coming year.