As one world fades away, another takes shape – a lesson from the miraculous Symphony No. 9. With its expanded tonality on the brink of disappearing, the music seems to contort in the final convulsions of the 19^th century. Suffering from a heart condition, Gustav Mahler has to give up all his favorite sports: swimming, rowing, cycling, and mountain hikes. His music conveys a sense of panic; it’s a poignant farewell to the world and the highly civilized Vienna. Mahler’s final completed work unfolds in waves and successive layers, fragments of memories traversing a vast catalogue of moods. The moving final adagio evokes Bruckner while plunging into the void. After his posthumous original production by Bruno Walter in Vienna in 1912, Geneva had the honor of hosting the second performance the following year with the OSR, known at that time as the Orchestre des Concerts d’abonnement, conducted by Bernard Stavenhagen at the Grand Théâtre.