The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1936 by Bronislaw Huberman. Huberman assembled a professional symphony orchestra of high calibre, consisting of Europe’s most talented Jewish symphonic players. Arturo Toscanini conducted the opening concerts in December 1936 and again in April 1938.
The orchestra has toured the world and played with the greatest performers in classical music including Valery Gergiev, Daniel Barenboim, Radu Lupu, Pinchas Zukerman, Gil Shaham, Gustavo Dudamel, Evgeny Kissin, Kurt Masur and his son Ken-David, Mischa Maisky, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Yefim Bronfman, Maxim Vengerov, Murray Perahia and Yuja Wang. Since 2020 the orchestra has been playing under the artistic direction of star conductor Lahav Shani, who rose to fame as Chief Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
In line with its tradition of creating unique high-level artistic events for the Gulf region, Abu Dhabi Classics will present the first concert by this prestigious orchestra in the region. For its one-night-only appearance in the UAE capital, the IPO will perform Gustav Mahler’s majestic Symphony No. 1. Written between 1884 and 1888, the symphony was inspired by the works of the German romantic period and imagines in music the possibility of a noble and heroic life.
Mahler also conceived of the work as a tone poem in symphonic form. Nicknamed 'Titan', as a reference to Jean Paul Richter’s novel, the symphony is a wonderful introduction to Mahler’s musical language and offers the perfect programme for a truly historic night of music.