Our Mahler Odyssey begins at the beginning with the twin strands of Mahler’s legacy: symphonies and songs. This is the perfect concert to discover the Mahler voice.
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ABOUT THE CONCERT
They say the beginning is a very good place to start. With Mahler that’s true, and as we set off with this 20-something composer there are twin strands to be discovered – symphonies and songs. The Songs of a Wayfarer follow the fortunes of a roaming apprentice, bereft and alone. It’s a melancholy subject, but in Mahler’s hands it’s beautifully poignant. On the other hand, his first symphony, composed around the same time, catches him in a good mood and – for Mahler! – a concise frame of mind.
Here is the emerging Mahler sound in music that sings and revels in youthful humour. There’s irony too. This is the symphony that famously turns “Frère Jacques” into a funeral march: the forest animals following a dead hunter. Blumine is a literal flowering of musical beauty, once a part of the symphony and recovered from the cutting room floor. From one appealing moment to the next, this is the perfect concert to discover the genuine Mahler voice.
R STRAUSS Don Juan
MAHLER Blumine
MAHLER Songs of a Wayfarer
MAHLER Symphony No.1
Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Markus Eiche baritone
Pre-concert talk by David Garrett in the Northern Foyer, 45 minutes before each performance.
AUDIO PLAYER LISTING
Track 1 – R STRAUSS Don Juan: two highlights
Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 480 04411
Track 2 – MAHLER Songs of a Wayfarer: Ging heut’ morgen übers Feld (As I walked this morning through the field)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone soloist
Track 3 – MAHLER Symphony No.1: 2nd movement
Track 4 – MAHLER Symphony No.1: finale
Mahler tracks: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rafael Kubelik
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 449 735-2
Audio kindly supplied by Universal Music.
Currently available from iTunes: Mahler 1 and Wayfarer; Don Juan