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Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde

Flora Willson chooses her favourite recording of Mahler's orchestral song cycle Das Lied von der Erde, plus Andrew McGregor reviews new releases of piano music with Lucy Parham.

9.30 Building a Library
Flora Willson chooses her favourite recording of Mahler's orchestral song cycle Das Lied von der Erde.

Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, 'Song of the Earth', is a set of six songs for two voices and orchestra, but is it a song-cycle or a symphony? Mahler certainly intended for Das Lied von der Erde to reflect the world in co taining everything, the whole range of human emotions and earthly experience, but the work doesn't easily fall into either the category of song-cycles or truly symphonic works. Mahler drew his texts for Das Lied from a compendium called The Chinese Flute, a translation of Chinese poems by the German poet Hans Bethge.

Mahler wrote Das Lied von der Erde in 1908-9 within a year of losing his beloved daughter Maria and receiving the diagnosis of the heart condition that would kill him in 1911. The work begins and ends with two of Mahler's most famous songs: Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde (The Drinking Song of Earth’s Sorrows) and Der Abscheid (The Farewell), a hauntingly beautiful, bleak and heartrending farewell to life as the 'sun sets behind the mountains.' The intervening songs are the introspective‘Der Einsame im Herbst’ (The Lonely One in Autumn) for mezzo soprano, the sprightly ‘Von der Jugend’ (Of Youth) for tenor, ‘Von der Schönheit’ (Of Beauty) depicting an innocent scene by a river bank where girls are picking flowers but are then briefly threatened by the arrival of boys on horseback, and ‘Der Trunkene im Frühling’ (The Drunkard in Spring).

10.45
Lucy Parham reviews new and recent recordings of piano music.

11.20
Record of the Week
Andrew recommends an outstanding new release.

2 hours, 47 minutes

Music Played

  • Michael Praetorius

    Terpsichore, Musarum Aoniarum: Volte, TMA 210

    Ensemble: Capella de la Torre.
    • Praetorius Dances.
    • Deutsche Harmonia Mundi.
    • 20.
  • Anon

    Pavan: Belle qui tiens ma vie

    Ensemble: Capella de la Torre. Conductor: Katharina Bäuml.
    • Praetorius Dances.
    • DEUTSCHE HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • 11.
  • Carl Maria von Weber

    Der Gerrscher der Geister Overture (Ruler of the Spirits Overture)

    Ensemble: Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra. Conductor: Christoph Eschenbach.
    • Weber.
    • Alpha.
    • 1.
  • Mihran Toumajan

    I Sing To You (Lullaby from Dikranagerd)

    Performer: Ellie Choate. Performer: Ruben Harutyunyan. Singer: Isabel Bayrakdarian.
    • Armenian Songs For Children.
    • AVIE.
    • 23.
  • Maurice Duruflé

    Fugue sur le thème du Carillon des Heures de la Cathédrale de Soissons Op. 12

    Performer: Thomas Trotter.
    • Durufle: Complete Organ Works.
    • Kings College.
    • 1.
  • Ignacy Jan Paderewski

    Fantaisie polonaise sur des themes originaux, Op. 19: IV. Allegro giocoso

    Performer: Jonathan Plowright. Conductor: Łukasz Borowicz. Ensemble: 鶹Լ Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
    • Gablenz: Piano Concerto; Paderewski: Polish Fantasy.
    • Hyperion.
    • 7.
  • Claude Debussy

    Fantasie for piano and orchestra: I. Andante

    Performer: Martha Argerich. Ensemble: Staatskapelle Berlin. Conductor: Daniel Barenboim.
    • Debussy: Fantaisie, Violin Sonata, Cello Sonata, La Mer.
    • DG.
    • 1.
  • Gilles Binchois

    Arae post libamina & Adieu mon amoureuse joye

    Composer: Matheus de Sancto Johanne. Ensemble: Gothic Voices.
    • Echoes of an Old Hall.
    • Linn.
    • 1.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K216: III. Rondeau: Allegro

    Performer: Sebastian Bohren. Ensemble: CHAARTS Chamber Artists.
    • Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 3 & 5; Symphony No. 29.
    • Avie.
    • 3.
  • André Messager

    Passionnement: VII. Valse. Puisqu'elle ne peut elle-meme

    Singer: Nicole Car. Singer: Étienne Dupuis. Ensemble: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Stefan Blunier.
    • André Messager: Passionnément.
    • Bru Zane.
    • 15.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, Op. 110: I. Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo

    Performer: Sunwook Kim.
    • Beethoven: The Last Three Sonatas.
    • Accentus Music.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58: IV. Finale

    Performer: Martha Argerich.
    • Martha Argerich: Chopin.
    • DG.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Allegretto quasi andante, Bagatelle in D major, Op.33 No.6

    Performer: Jonas Vitaud.
    • Beethoven 1802, Heiligenstadt.
    • Mirare.
    • 7.
  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Lieder ohne Worte (No. 1 in Eb major & No. 2 in F# minor)

    Performer: Howard Shelley.
    • Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music, Vol. 5.
    • Hyperion.
  • George Gershwin

    Gershwin - When Do We Dance & Ginastera - Danza del gaucho matrero

    Composer: Alberto Ginastera. Performer: Lise de la Salle.
    • When Do We Dance.
    • NAIVE.
  • Jacques Ibert

    Divertissement

    Orchestra: c/o chamber orchestra.
    • Divertissement!.
    • BIS.
    • 1.

Record Review

DISCS PLAYED & REVIEWED ON RECORD REVIEW:

Saturday 19th June 2021

9.00am

Praetorius Dances

Capella de la Torre

Katharina Bäuml (director)

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi -- G010004504521C

Weber

Martin Helmchen (piano)

Anna Prohaska (soprano)

Konzerthausorchester Berlin

Christoph Eschenbach (conductor)

Alpha ALPHA744

Armenian Songs for Children – music by Vartabed, Toumajan, Ganatchian & Trad.

Isabel Bayrakdarian (soprano)

Ellie Choate (harp)

Ray Furuta (flute)

Ruben Harutyunyan (duduk)

Avie AV2449

Durufle: Complete Organ Works

Thomas Trotter (organ)

Kings College KGS0053

Gablenz: Piano Concerto; Paderewski: Polish Fantasy

Jonathan Plowright (piano)

鶹Լ Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Łukasz Borowicz (concductor)

Hyperion CDA68323

9.30am – Building a Library – Dr Flora Willson on Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde

Recommended Recording:

Marc Albrecht (conductor)

Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano)

Burkhard Fritz (tenor)

Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra

Pentatone PTC5186502 (Hybrid SACD)

http://www.pentatonemusic.com/mahler-das-lied-von-der-erde

Other recommendation:

Otto Klemperer (conductor)

Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano)

Fritz Wunderlich (tenor)
Philharmonia Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra
EMI 2483982

10.15am – New Releases

Debussy: Fantaisie, Violin Sonata, Cello Sonata, La Mer

Martha Argerich (piano)

Daniel Barenboim (piano/conductor)

Michael Barenboim (violin)

Kian Soltani (cello)

Staatskapelle Berlin

DG 4837537

Echoes of an Old Hall – music by Binchois, Dufay, Dunstaple, Maysheut, etc

Gothic Voices

Linn CKD644

Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 3 & 5; Symphony No. 29

Sebastian Bohren (violin)

CHAARTS Chamber Artists

Gabor Takacs-Nagy (conductor)

Avie AV2459

André Messager: Passionnément

Véronique Gens (Ketty Stevenson/soprano)

Nicole Car (Julia/soprano)

Chantal Santon Jeffery (Helene Le Barrois/soprano)

Eric Huchet (William Stevenson/tenor)

Étienne Dupuis (Robert Perceval/baritone)

Armando Noguera (Harris/baritone)

Munchner Rundfunkorchester

Stefan Blunier (conductor)

Bru Zane BZ1044

10.40am – Lucy Parham’s Piano Music

Beethoven: The Last Three Sonatas

Sunwook Kim (piano)

Accentus Music ACC30527

Martha Argerich: Chopin

Martha Argerich (piano)

DG 4860008 (5CDs + 1 Blu—ray Audio)

Beethoven 1802, Heiligenstadt

Jonas Vitaud (piano)

Mirare MIR562

Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music, Vol. 5
Howard Shelley (piano)

Hyperion CDA68344

When Do We Dance? Music by Bartók, Gershwin, Ginastera, Ravel

Lise de la Salle (piano)

Naïve V5468

11.20am – Record of the Week

Divertissement: Works by Ibert, Bernard, Bartok & Ippolito

C/O Chamber Orchestra

BIS BIS2499 (Hybrid SACD)


Broadcast

  • Sat 19 Jun 2021 09:00

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