Redemption and musical caffeine: Nelsons conducts Mahler 8 in Vienna

Andris Nelsons, soloists and the Vienna Philharmonic

Mahler's Eighth Symphony in the Wiener Konzerthaus

Ying Fang

By Mark Pullinger, 10 May 2026

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“Nelsons lingered atmospherically, relishing the Vienna Phil’s warm halo of string tone”

Reviewed at Konzerthaus: Großer Saal, Vienna on 10 May 2026

Mahler, Symphony no. 8 in E flat major "Symphony of a Thousand"

Jacquelyn Wagner, Soprano

Sarah Wegener, Soprano

Ying Fang, Soprano

Beth Taylor, Mezzo-soprano

Tamara Mumford, Mezzo-soprano

Benjamin Bruns, Tenor

Michael Nagy, Baritone

Tareq Nazmi, Bass

Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien

Wiener Singakademie

Wiener Sängerknaben

Vienna Philharmonic

Andris Nelsons, Conductor

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

Redemption and a musical caffeine shot: Andris Nelsons conducts Mahler 8 in Vienna