Mahler maestro waves a mini sparkler

Mahler maestro waves a mini sparkler

Uncategorized

norman lebrecht

August 07, 2025

I know it’s the silly season, but what could be sillier than this?

The ‘Blumine’ movement dumped by Gustav Mahler from his first symphony is played by the Nuremberg State Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Roland Böer – with a sparkler in his spare hand.

The audience wave sparklers in response.

What is that all about?

UPDATE:
The whole concert lasts almost three hours. Set in what is billed as Europe’s Greenest Open Air Concert Hall,  Roland Böer, conductor and Roland Kunz, presenter discuss Blumine and the sparklers at 2 hours 1 minute and 51 seconds in German.

Comments

  • Tony Sanderson says:

    Creating an atmosphere when all the sparklers glow in the dark as the orchestra turn Mahler’s Blumine into a chilled classic hit. Not to everyone’s taste perhaps.

  • Mahler says:

    The things you have to do to get noticed these days…. Who’s the trumpeter? Beautiful playing!

  • Philipp Lord Chandos says:

    “Tradition ist nicht die Anbetung der Asche, sondern die Weitergabe des Feuers.”

    ???

  • Simon says:

    It’s Mahler. Anything to avoid being bored to death.

  • Stephen Jay-Taylor says:

    Boer and Kunz.

    Most apt….

  • zandoA1 says:

    At the Hollywood Bowl last week, they followed Richard Strauss’ “Also sprach Zarathustra” with an encore of the Blue Danube by the other Strauss, lots of sparklers and dancing in the audience. Gotta love these summer concerts.

  • Margaret Koscielny says:

    I think it’s rather beautiful in its effect.
    People who think in TikTok fragments of time and aesthetics probably won’t agree.
    But, does anyone who loves music really care about such people’s opinions?

    • henry williams says:

      where is andre rieu

    • Hammers Rocco says:

      IMHO it is something that has been transplanted from pop concerts – If you attended concerts in 70s/80s you probably seen the lights come out at some point – specially during the ballads. It used to be lighters ( hence the cliche hand signature ) and sparklers, nowadays it is phone torches. And the poster that commented re: summer concerts is right. I’ve seen a video from YouTube from an orchestra playing the waltz from Shostakovich Jazz suite where the audience wave the sparklers… definitely a summer concert environment from the looks of it.

  • Allegri says:

    What could be sillier than this?
    Well, previously there have been maestros who conducted with toothpicks, light sabers and fly swatters.

  • Jobim75 says:

    Let them do…let them be….it doesn’t make sense to try to make sense nowadays

  • MOST READ TODAY: