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The Utah Symphony will wrap up its two-season Mahler symphony cycle with performances of the composer's last completed symphony on May 27 and 28.

The Ninth is "probably [Mahler's] most complex in terms of messages and symbols," music director Thierry Fischer said in a phone interview from his home in Geneva, Switzerland. The symphony's concluding pages, in which the sound fades into nothingness, have been a bit of an enigma for conductors in the century since its premiere.

"Different people think different things about the message of the end," Fischer said. "Is it death, or is it happiness? Or death could be happiness, depending on what you believe in."

Fischer, who has conducted the work twice (in Japan and in Great Britain), said the ending tests the stamina of the conductor and the strings, in particular. "It's like being on a rope on top of Niagara Falls." But "challenges show us what we can do, and this group can do a lot," he said. "This cycle was definitely a turning point, especially because we did it in such a short time. I noticed a change, especially since Mahler 6, in the confidence and depth of sound."

The concerts also mark the end of the orchestra's 75th-anniversary celebration, an ambitious undertaking that has included the world premieres of three commissioned works, three recordings, a well-received visit to New York's Carnegie Hall, and collaborations with Ballet West, the Madeleine Choir School, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Utah Opera, the Utah Shakespeare Festival and other Utah arts organizations.

"The season, I think, has been better than anybody could have imagined," Fischer said. "The collaborations have galvanized all of us. … I couldn't be more proud of what we have collectively achieved." —

Hitting for the cycle

The Utah Symphony and music director Thierry Fischer will perform Mahler's Symphony No. 9 to close the 2015-16 season.

When • Friday and Saturday, May 27 and 28, 7:30 p.m.

Where • Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $18-$79 ($5 more on concert day); utahsymphony.org