Gustav Mahler’s symphonies in cinema – and why Maestro’s Symphony No.2 and Tár’s Symphony No.5 sound so different

The works of the composer Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) are among the most often played in many orchestras’ repertoire. This was not the case during his lifetime, however, when he was much more popular as a conductor than a composer – his critics finding his compositions too different, too complex and, as one critic put it, “dangerous”.

One champion of Mahler after the second world war was the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990), who played an important part in the posthumous breakthrough of Mahler’s music. Bernstein’s love of Mahler has been dramatised in two films this year, Maestro and Tár.

Source: Gustav Mahler’s symphonies in cinema – and why Maestro’s Symphony No.2 and Tár’s Symphony No.5 sound so different