The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is one of the world’s great Gustav Mahler orchestras, a legacy that goes back to its second music director, Frederick Stock. That legacy catapulted the orchestra this month to one of classical music’s most prominent forums, as the CSO became the first American orchestra to perform at the Mahler Festival, an 11-day marathon hosted in Amsterdam that ends Sunday.
The festival has run only twice before, in 1920 and in 1995. Connecting Chicago and the festival’s host city is the conductor Klaus Mäkelä, who takes over Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2027, the same year he becomes music director of the CSO.
But who was Gustav Mahler — and why are some of the biggest names in classical music convening in Amsterdam to celebrate him? Illustrator Eda Uzunlar and WBEZ contributor Hannah Edgar collaborated on this comic to explain.
To learn more about Mahler Festival, tune in to 91.5 FM to hear Edgar’s dispatches from Amsterdam.
