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Alma Mahler worries that her husband’s morbid fascination with death and grief may be tempting fate.

Gustav Mahler: brilliant, fiery and tyrannical – leader of some the most prestigious musical institutions of his era – fought battles his whole life. He clashed with his colleagues, scrapped with critics and wrestled endlessly with his own desires and ambitions. This week, Kate Molleson navigates us through his many personal and professional struggles, and follows Mahler to the countryside hideaways where he sought (not always successfully) to escape the drama of his everyday life. Here, among the lakes and mountains, Mahler also found space to compose and he poured the whole world into his music in all its ugliness, mundanity and transcendent beauty.

Symphony No. 7: II. Nachtmusik. Allegro moderato (extract )
Bavarian State Orchestra, conducted by Kirill Petrenko

Kindertotenlieder: 3. Wenn dein Mütterlein
Brigitte Fassbaender, mezzo-soprano
German Symphony Orchestra of Berlin, Riccardo Chailly

Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand", Part I
Judith Howarth, soprano
Anne Schwanewilms, soprano
Sofia Fomina, soprano
Michaela Selinger, mezzo-soprano
Patricia Bardon, mezzo-soprano
Barry Banks, tenor
Matthew Rose, bass
London Symphony Chorus
London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski

Das Lied von der Erde: II. Der Einsame in Herbst
Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano
London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Symphony No. 7: IV. Nachtmusik. Andante amoroso
Bavarian State Orchestra, conducted by Kirill Petrenko