On September 12, 1910, in Munich, Gustav Mahler introduced the world to his Eighth Symphony, the last of his compositions to premiere in his lifetime—and was greeted with raptures he had never known. Clocking in at an hour and a quarter, the Eighth is in two movements. The first, a heaven-storming setting of the ninth-century invocation of the Holy Spirit Veni creator spiritus, is all but terrifying in its single-minded intensity—almost too close for comfort to a Dies Irae. The kaleidoscopic second movement presents the hallucinatory final pages of Goethe’s Faust in music spun of meditation, ecstasy, and unfathomable enigmas, straight through to the “Chorus Mysticus” proclaiming the vanity of transitory existence and the power of the Eternal Feminine, drawing us ever onward. As in Amsterdam in 1910, Mahler’s so-called “Symphony of A Thousand” takes listeners by storm. At the same time, its demands on performers—typically some 600; the title is symbolic—make every iteration a red-letter occasion. Kirill Petrenko’s performances with the unsurpassed instrumentalists of the Berlin Philharmonic, choristers from three crackerjack ensembles, and eight major-league vocal soloists will attract Mahler pilgrims from far and wide. —Matthew Gurewitsch