UMS proudly welcomes the next chapter of the Berlin Philharmonic’s magnificent legacy with the Ann Arbor debut of maestro Kirill Petrenko. He leads two programs that showcase the ensemble’s mastery across classical, romantic, and contemporary repertoire.

The Berlin Philharmonic’s second program features Gustav Mahler at his most mysterious, with the tantalizing nocturnal atmosphere of his Symphony No. 7. The work, which remains the least known and least performed of all of Mahler’s symphonies, was composed during the summers of 1904 and 1905, Mahler’s only respite from the demands of conducting. The work’s wide palette of orchestral colors is filled with shadows and contrasts, and it had a mixed reception when it premiered in Prague in 1908. Nevertheless, it converted the Mahler skeptic Arnold Schoenberg, who wrote in great detail about his response to the work, stating unequivocally, “As for which movement I liked best: All of them!”