In this edition of Club9 we speak with Morten Solvik — musicologist, international educator, writer and editor, Vice President of the Mahler Foundation, Board Director of the International Gustav Mahler Society, Director and Dean of the Institute for European Studies in Vienna, and co-founder and artistic director of the Gustav Mahler Festival in Steinbach am Attersee.
The conversation focuses on the 2026 festival, taking place over one week at the end of June. We explore the program, the theme guiding this year’s edition, and the cultural highlights and events that shape the festival.
We reflect on Mahler’s music in its historical and contemporary context, and on what it means to experience this repertoire in a place so closely connected to the composer.
The program also includes a listening segment dedicated to Mahler’s 3rd Symphony, the main theme of 2026 festival — a work of vast scale and vision, moving from nature and elemental forces toward a deeply human and reflective final movement.
A conversation about music, place, and perspective, aired live in Club9 on Freies Radio Salzkammergut on May 7, 2026.
Tracklist of music played in the program:
- Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic, Christa Ludwig. Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Rheinlegendchen – 2017 Remastered Version
- Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic. Symphony No. 3: Ia. Kräftig. Entschieden – Live
- Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic. Symphony No. 3: IIa. Tempo di minuetto. Sehr mässig – Live
- Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic. Symphony No. 3: IIIa. Comodo. Scherzando. Ohne Hast – Live
- Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic, Christa Ludwig. Symphony No. 3: IVa. Sehr langsam. Misterioso. O Mensch! Gib acht! – Live
- Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic, New York Choral Artists, Brooklyn Boys Chorus, Joseph Flummerfelt, James McCarthy. Symphony No. 3: V. Lustig im Tempo und keck im Ausdruck. Bimm bamm – Live
- Gustav Mahler, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic. Symphony No. 3: VIa. Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden – Live
- Johannes Brahms, Piotr Anderszewski. 3 Intermezzi, Op. 117: No. 2 in B-Flat Minor
