The San Diego Symphony “Resurrection”: Celebrating 100 years of hardships and triumph with Mahler’s 2nd Symphony

The resounding echo of a huge percussion battery, two harps, four trombones, eight trumpets, ten horns and quadruple woodwind, will take over Copley Symphony Hall as the San Diego Symphony Orchestra perform Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, “Resurrection.”

The San Diego Entertainer is giving away tickets to see this spectacular show.  Sign up below before noon Tuesday, Dec. 7 to be eligible.

In their centennial year (their first performance was in December 1910) the San Diego Symphony hopes to illustrate their current success as the last hundred years have not gone by without a few bumps in the road. Several seasonal gaps appear on their timeline, from a temporary dismissal after World War I, to a pause in action after Pearl Harbor, to the most recent bankruptcy in the mid 1990’s, yet the San Diego Symphony Orchestra is currently in its most successful resurrection to date, becoming one of the most prominent orchestras in the country and earning itself a current $18 million annual budget.

According to current music director and conductor of the SDSO, Jahja Ling, Mahler’s 2nd symphony is “a suitable commemoration of our orchestra’s successful resurrection after too many earlier bouts of disaster or near disaster.” The drama and transcendence in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, “Resurrection,”  reflects the perseverance faced by the San Diego Symphony Orchestra through the many obstacles. The piece features four movements that take the audience on an emotional journey that questions death and existence in the first three parts, with a final elongated exploration of rebirth.

In addition to the expansive orchestra, the eighty-minute “Resurrection” symphony calls for a chorus and two soloists. Joining the SDSO performance are the San Diego Master Chorale along with acclaimed singers, Janice Chandler Eteme and Susan Platts. The SDMC is comprised of 125 amazing local singers who have toured Europe as part of the volunteer organization. Eteme, a distinguished soprano whose made a name for herself in the symphony world, recently made her move into opera, starring as “Bess” in the Opera de Lyon’s production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Mezzo soprano Platts, has traveled throughout the nation and worldwide, sharing her wide-ranging vocals with various orchestras and recordings, more recently chosen to be world-renowned soprano Jessye Norman’s protegee.

See this wonderful collaboration of talent as they perform Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, “Resurrection,” at the Copley Symphony Hall Friday, December 10th through Sunday, December 12th. Tickets to the show range from $20-$96, so sign up below to win your free tickets!

Photo courtesy of the San Diego Symphony.