“To write a symphony is to create a whole world,” said Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler. The Fifth Symphony was composed during, perhaps, the most successful period of his life, in 1901–1902 during a summer vacation he spent in a family villa in southern Austria. The emotional canvas lasting more than an hour is grouped into three major sections: 1st and 2nd movements – the first section, 3rd movement – the second, 4^th and 5^th movements – the third. The 4th movement Adagietto (tempo indication in German Sehr langsam) is the most often performed excerpt from Mahler’s output. It is an exceptionally poetic meditation, an island of peace in the stormy bustle of the Fifth Symphony, a love song without words that the composer dedicated to his beloved wife Alma. Adagietto’s melody of exceptional beauty is played only by strings and harp.

Mahler’s yearning masterpiece is performed by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Keri-Lynn Wilson, a baton Maestra from Canada.