Interchanging Idioms

Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde was posthumously premiered in Munich in 1911 and described by Mahler as a “symphony for tenor, alto (or baritone) and orchestra.” It follows that two soloists have been featured in every recording to date: either tenor and baritone or tenor and alto/mezzo soprano. Jonas Kaufmann is the first soloist to be heard singing both parts. His recording of Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde will be available from Sony Classical on April 7, 2017. The three tenor songs alone pose quite a challenge, particularly the opening “ Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde ” (Drinking Song of Earth’s Misery). What inspired Jonas Kaufmann to take on the three lower-pitched songs too? “During performances I’ve often wondered why one needs two singers for these six songs. Of course, there are powerful contrasts between the songs and also clear differences in terms of their vocal tessitura. In spite of this, I was attracted by the idea of framing these six songs – despi...

Also joined by Yefim Bronfman and Gil Shaham for Mozart, Beethoven & Berg Michael Tilson Thomas will conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in three concerts in May and June at the Barbican. On 27 May they perform Mahler’s Symphony No 4, with soprano Elizabeth Watts and are joined by Yefim Bronfman as soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 3. Bronfman returns on 31 May to perform Berg’s Chamber Symphony alongside violinist Gil Shaham and the programme is completed by Mahler’s Symphony No 1 (‘Titan’). The trio of Mahler symphonies continues on 3 June with a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No 5, alongside Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 5 (‘Turkish’) with Gil Shaham as soloist. Before the 3 June concert at 6pm there will be a free recital given by Guildhall School musicians, part of the ongoing Guildhall Artists at the Barbican series. Michael Tilson Thomas is Principal Guest Conductor of the LSO. In June 2013 he returns to conduct the Orchestra with cellist Yo-Yo Ma in three conce...

" Jurowski wipes the floor with the recent Rattle and Jansons accounts and is probably now the prime recommendation, the "library" choice, that has for so long eluded us. " Gramophone Magazine Recording of the Month, August 2011 " As engaging as it gets " BBC Music Magazine *****

Archival Recording Features Josef Krips Leading the Wiener Symphoniker in a Live Recording 2011 is a Mahler anniversary year celebrating the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death (May 18th). In honor, Deutsche Grammophon has uncovered a treasure from the archive: this live recording of a sold-out concert from the Vienna Festival given at the Musikverein on June 14, 1964. With incomparable soloists at the height of their individual powers, this was an unforgettable performance. Now released for the first time on CD, this faithfully restored recording presents a marvel of singing and orchestral playing and is available in the US now. Josef Krips was an exceptionally gifted conductor and was recognized early for his innate ability with opera and singers. At the age of 24 he became Germany’s youngest general music director in Karlsruhe and had already led performances of Tristan und Isolde and Siegfried. Of course, Krips conducted much more than opera and, even as a child, had...

Interactive Website Allows Users to Stream Mahler Recordings and Explore the Catalog at No Cost May 18th, 2011 marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler. Today, Mahler’s works are performed and recorded frequently and enjoy an esteemed place in any orchestra’s standard repertoire. In 2010 Deutsche Grammophon & Decca celebrated the 150th anniversary of Mahler’s birth with the Mahler150.com website, and the site continues to honor Mahler this year. In addition, DG will release a rare archival recording of the composer’s Das Lied von der Erde featuring Fritz Wunderlich and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in a performance led by Josef Krips. The Mahler 150 website, www.mahler150.com , is devoted to the composer and his music and offers full-track streaming of the complete Deutsche Grammophon and Decca Mahler catalogs featuring some 180 symphony recordings. Additionally, the comprehensive out-of-print section of over 60 albums includes important recordings that have b...

Archival Recording Features Josef Krips Leading the Wiener Symphoniker in a Live Recording 2011 is a Mahler anniversary year celebrating the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death (May 18th). In honor, Deutsche Grammophon has uncovered a treasure from the archive: this live recording of a sold-out concert from the Vienna Festival given at the Musikverein on June 14, 1964. With incomparable soloists at the height of their individual powers, this was an unforgettable performance. Now released for the first time on CD, this faithfully restored recording presents a marvel of singing and orchestral playing and will be available in the US on May 24, 2011. Josef Krips was an exceptionally gifted conductor and was recognized early for his innate ability with opera and singers. At the age of 24 he became Germany’s youngest general music director in Karlsruhe and had already led performances of Tristan und Isolde and Siegfried . Of course, Krips conducted much more than opera and, e...

Deutsche Grammophon & Decca Honor the 100th Anniversary of Mahler’s Death Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Gustav Mahler. Today, Mahler’s works are performed and recorded frequently and enjoy an esteemed place in any orchestra’s standard repertoire. In 2010 Deutsche Grammophon & Decca celebrated the 150th anniversary of Mahler’s birth with the Mahler150.com website, and the site continues to honor Mahler this year. In addition, DG will release a rare archival recording of the composer’s Das Lied von der Erde featuring Fritz Wunderlich and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in a performance led by Josef Krips. The Mahler 150 website, www.mahler150.com , is devoted to the composer and his music and offers full-track streaming of the complete Deutsche Grammophon and Decca Mahler catalogs featuring some 180 symphony recordings. Additionally, the comprehensive out-of-print section of over 60 albums includes important recordings that have become virtually unobtain...

Program also includes Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony Mezzo-soprano Theodora Hanslowe and tenor Simon O’Neill make their Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) debuts, under the direction of BSO Music Director Marin Alsop, in a performance of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (“Song of the Earth”) on Friday, May 6 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 8 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and Saturday, May 7 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore. Also on the program is Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, “Italian.” Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, “Italian” was inspired by the young composer’s trip to Italy. Commissioned by London Philharmonic society, now known as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the work premiered in 1833 in London under Mendelssohn’s baton. While many music critics classify it as one of his most perfectly conceived symphonic works, the composer was not happy with the work and continued to revise it until his death. The work was finally published posthumously. In th...

by Jess Albertine Most critics are so prone to discussing this music in generalities that anyone unfamiliar with a particular composition would be led to suppose that it, too, was full of sound and fury signifying nothing. This is the stuff of living music. - Aaron Copland (paraphrased) When studying classical music from before 1900, we are surrounded by an impressive amount of idealism. The music that makes up the bulk of commonly played repertoire comes from the Romantic era, which largely advocated what we have come to think of as Beethoven’s idealistic, heroic conquering of any obstacles. Looking back at it from a post-modern perspective, it seems strikingly naïve. How can we say the hero always wins, or that there even is a hero? We all saw what happened in the World Wars, Vietnam, the constant wars in Africa and the Middle East, and countless other tragedies. There were no all-conquering heroes there, and no way to win without taking more than a few hits along the way. For ...

The St. Louis Symphony is dedicating its performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” April 8-10, 2011, to the late Richard Ashburner, who passed away Friday, March 18. Ashburner had been the manager of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus since 1989, having joined it as a tenor eight years earlier. Symphony President and CEO Fred Bronstein said of Ashburner: “Richard was a longtime, remarkably devoted member of the St. Louis Symphony staff, and a very important part of the success of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus over many years. He was a dedicated educator, passionate music lover and a warm, gentle person. Richard's impact and absence will be felt for a long time to come. We mourn his passing.” Ashburner was also an administrator with the Special School District and received national recognition for his work in the field of speech pathology. More recently, he worked with the Symphony's Education and Community Partnership Department to help musicians develop effective...

With each live webcast at www.medici.tv , more music lovers around the world learn how to experience superlative classical music and opera performances in the comfort and intimacy of their own homes. Now, as the holiday season shifts into high gear, three remarkable – and free-of-charge! – musical offerings provide a glimpse of the riches available at www.medici.tv: Giorgio Strehler’s legendary production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro from the Opéra National de Paris (available for streaming through Dec 31); Serge Baudo conducting Berlioz’s l uminous oratorio, L’enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ), which will be webcast live from the Auditorium de Lyon on December 16 (and available afterwards for streaming on demand); and a complete cycle of Mahler’s nine symphonies conducted by Christoph Eschenbach (available until June 2011). Giorgio Strehler’s production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro debuted 37 years ago in Paris. The current revival of the production – filmed by Do...

Beethoven's Symphony No 7 is one of the composer's best-loved works, but on 5 December there's a chance to hear it from a new angle in an arrangement by Gustav Mahler, with the LSO under Marin Alsop. Mahler greatly revered Beethoven and was convinced that he would have not only approved of his edits, but most likely would have made them himself had he experienced the orchestra of Mahler's era. Full concert details and online booking: www.lso.co.uk or via Barbican Box Office 020 7638 8891

Available on CD September 14th and from iTunes on August 31st The San Francisco Symphony’s Grammy®-winning Mahler recording cycle, launched in 2001 on its own SFS Media™ label, comes to a close this season with the release of Mahler’s Songs with Orchestra on CD September 14 and by download from the iTunes Store on August 31. Songs with Orchestra features Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas leading the Orchestra and Susan Graham performing Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder. Thomas Hampson and the Orchestra contribute performances of Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) and selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn . Rückert-Lieder and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen were both recorded live at Davies Symphony Hall during the SFS’s three-week Mahler Festival in September 2009. The selected songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn with MTT, Hampson and the Orchestra were recorded at Davies Symphony Hall in May 2007. The release coincides with worldwide celebration of the music of Mahler...

During this Mahler anniversary year Deutsche Grammophon and Decca lead the way by honoring the revolutionary composer with Mahler 150. Certainly one of the most influential composers of symphonies and song-cycles, Mahler will be feted with a website that encourages exploration of his works, a “People’s Edition” selected and programmed by listeners, and an impressive line-up of new releases and rare re-issues. With the 150th anniversary of Mahler’s birth and the composer will be celebrated with numerous live concerts (including a recital with Thomas Hampson in Mahler’s birth-house in Kaliste, Czech Republic which will be web-cast live on medici.tv). Deutsche Grammophon and Decca join the celebration by launching a new website devoted to the richest catalog of Mahler recordings in existence as well as beginning a number of long reaching initiatives. The Mahler 150 website is devoted to the composer and his music and will offer full-track streaming of the complete Deutsche Gramm...

from Composer’s Birth-House in Kaliste, Czech Republic, on Wednesday, July 7 at 9am EDT on www.medici.tv Long regarded as the premier interpreter of the songs of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), Thomas Hampson will dedicate much of his summer and the upcoming 2010-11 season to performances of the Austrian composer’s works. The celebration begins on July 7 – the date of Mahler’s birth 150 years ago – with Hampson’s recital from Mahler’s birth-house in Kaliste, Czech Republic, that will be webcast live on www.medici.tv, and an evening concert from Kaliste with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by Manfred Honeck, which the European Broadcasting Union will transmit live across Europe. The webcast will also be available for streaming through www.medici.tv for 60 days following the performance. Additional Mahler performances will follow throughout the summer – making more than 50 concerts over the course of the 2010-11 season – including Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen at the Zurich Op...

Mahler is a daunting composer to consider performing. Attempting his Symphony No. 8, “Symphony of a Thousand”, named because of the immense orchestra and chorus required, sometimes makes you feel it is one of the last pieces any sane conductor would want to do. While the most recent release from SFS Media, San Francisco Symphony’s own label, is most definitely not the last thing we’ll hear from Michael Tilson Thomas, he did leave Mahler’s 8th to be the final in the set of Mahler symphonies, due out August 25th. "...this promises to be a triumphant capstone to the entire cycle." -San Francisco Chronicle Mahler Symphony No. 8 is joined (and preluded) by the first movement of what would have been his Symphony No. 10 had he been able to finish it. The sense of torment and anxiety is clearly felt in the music as Mahler was afraid he was losing his wife to another man. Parts of this piece could easily serve as score to a Hitchcock film, with moments of tranquil splendor haunted...

Includes Adagio from Symphony No. 10 Available August 25, 2009 iTunes to offer exclusive pre-release digital download beginning August 11 SAN FRANCISCO, CA, July 29, 2009 – Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) will release their recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and the Adagio from Mahler’s unfinished Symphony No. 10 on hybrid SACD August 25, 2009. This recording is the final album of symphonies to be released as part of the SFS’s Grammy-winning Mahler recording project for its own label, SFS Media. A future album of Mahler’s works for voice and orchestra will complete the project in 2010. Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 in E flat major, Symphony of a Thousand, was recorded live in Davies Symphony Hall November 19, 21, 22 and 23, 2008 and features performances by sopranos Erin Wall, Elza van den Heever, and Laura Claycomb; mezzo-sopranos Katarina Karnéus and Yvonne Naef; tenor Anthony Dean Griffey; baritone Quinn Kelsey; and bass-baritone Jam...

To close the 2008-09 season, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra continues its multi-season Mahler Cycle with a climactic performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection" featuring two guest soloists and the CSO Chorus. A sequel to Mahler's First Symphony, performed by the CSO in September 2008, the Second Symphony continues Mahler's epic story which depicts his heroic character's journey and triumphant resurrection. Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C minor is know as the "Resurrection" symphony. Originally, the symphony was written as a single movement symphonic poem called Totenfeier (Death Celebration) in 1888. After hearing Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock's Die Auferstehung (The Resurrection) at the funeral of his friend Hans von Bülow, Mahler extended the piece, using the first two verses of Klopstock's hymn, adding his own verses that dealt more explicitly with redemption and resurrection. Mahler said the first two verses of Kl...

Amy Eglowstein is the proud winner of the Bernstein Mahler: The Complete Symphonies by Sony Masterworks . She will receive the complete 10 CD set in the mail in the next few weeks. Interchanging Idioms would also like to thank Sony Masterworks for providing this wonder CD collection to be given away. It has been a lot of fun this month seeing what videos people could find on YouTube, and getting a chance to hear bits and piece of some truly amazing music. For more information about Leonard Bernstein visit his website , his MySpace Page or Sony Masterworks information on Leonard Bernstein.

YouTube Video of Valery Gergiev conducts the London Symphony Orchestra performing Mahler's second symphony. Recorded in April, 2008. Available from LSO Live on disc and download from lso.co.uk/mahler In celebration of the release of Bernstein Mahler: The Complete Symphonies by Sony Masterworks , Interchanging Idioms is giving away ONE set of this marvellous collection to one of our readers. For more details click on the button on the upper right. For more information about Leonard Bernstein visit his website , his MySpace Page or Sony Masterworks information on Leonard Bernstein.