Mahler Symphony No. 4 by Lisa Larsson

Gustav Mahler

Lisa Larsson

Mahler Symphony No. 4

Price: € 19.95
Format: SACD
Label: Challenge Classics
UPC: 0608917265927
Catnr: CC 72659
Release date: 19 October 2014
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Label
Challenge Classics

UPC
0608917265927

Catalogue number
CC 72659

Release date
19 October 2014

""Prominently featured in the packaging, she is in effect the star of the show, gifted three extra songs in what is her second collaboration with the accomplished Arnhem-based ensemble on Challenge Classics.""

GRAMOPHONE, 01-6-2015

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

Not only in his fi rst symphony, but also in his third and fourth, Gustav Mahler repeatedly struggled with the various movements: whether to include them, or how to put them in the right place in the work. Symphony No. 3, completed in 1896, initially had seven movements, two of them to text from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. These Lieder, Es sungen drei Engel and “Das himmlische Leben”
showed clear thematic similarities and were indeed meant as a pair in the symphony. But Mahler decided to remove the latter Lied, which he had meant to be the seventh movement. The symphony was already quite long, and perhaps two Lieder from Des Knaben Wunderhorn was a bit too much of a good thing. Ultimately this Lied, which Mahler actually wrote in 1892, found a place in his Symphony No. 4, which he completed in 1901.

He had a very hard time getting this symphony started. By then he had been director of the Vienna Court Opera for two years, a job he had passionately desired, but which demanded a great deal from him. He genuinely needed the summer holiday to rest and spend time relaxing and composing. But the summer he spent on a tiny lake in upper Salzkammergut was disastrous. The weather was poor, there was a lot of rain, and his summer home was uncomfortably close to a local music tent where a jolly brass band played all
day long. The next year things went better. Through friends, he took a villa in Maiernigg, on the Wörthersee in Carinthia. At the bottom of the garden, hidden in the greenery, was a small house to which Mahler could withdraw. In this ‘Komponierhäuschen’, as he called it, he had the peace and quiet he needed for his music. There, in the garden house, he no longer had any trouble completing his fourth symphony. At fi rst, Mahler had wild plans with this symphony. It was to be an extensive work of six movements alternating vocal and instrumental parts, somewhat like the third symphony. But gradually the scope of the concept was reduced to four movements, with only the final one containing a limited vocal element in the form of a soprano solo. She sings the praises of heavenly eternity as seen through the eyes of a child. It is a hushed song, profoundly beatifi c in its mood, and it determines the colour of the rest of the symphony. The structure of this piece is almost intimate; even the orchestra is small for Mahler. The fi rst movement is cheerful, with sometimes banal and waggish popular melodies. A reminiscence of his noisy holiday in 1899? The second movement also seems to point in that direction, with its solo violin purposely out of tune, playing its sinister little dances like a mediaeval viol, cheery and just a wee bit creepy, just the way a child would like it. In the long, drawn-out Adagio Mahler had his mother’s face in mind, soft and gentle
but with a hint of sadness. The audience was clearly rather less enchanted with Symphony No. 4. After its three majestic predecessors, they had been expecting another showpiece, and had not counted on this extremely subtle music. The audience greeted its premiere in Munich with boos and hoots, yet in Amsterdam, the performance with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and his good friend Willem Mengelberg in 1904 was a huge success. Despite the unusual approach: Before the interval, Mahler conducted the work, after the break, the entire symphony was repeated, with Mengelberg conducting.

Mahlers 4e Symfonie meesterlijk uitgevoerd
Gustav Mahler's 4e Symfonie is vandaag de dag waarschijnlijk de meest populaire van zijn symfonieën. Hoewel het publiek in München het werk tijdens de première "beloonde" met boegeroep, was het in Amsterdam juist een groot succes. Deze opname van Mahler's 4e Symfonie wordt uitgevoerd door het internationaal gerenommeerde Gelders Orkest onder leiding van dirigent Antonello Manacorda. De voortreffelijke solist in het laatste deel is de Zweedse sopraan Lisa Larsson, die op dit album ook drie liederen van Mahler's liedcyclus Des Knaben Wunderhorn uitvoert. Larsson is thuis op zowel het concertpodium als in de opera en staat dan ook bekend om haar diversiteit als artiest. Ze heeft gastoptredens verzorgd bij vele grote Europese operahuizen, waaronder de Beierse Staatsopera en het Royal Opera House in Londen.

Als medeoprichter, ondervoorzitter en concertmeester van het Mahler Chamber Orchestra, heeft Antonello Manacorda een sterke, persoonlijke relatie met de muziek van Mahler. Hij is hoofddirigent van de Kammerakademie in Potsdam en nam diezelfde rol op zich met het Gelders Orkest. Daarnaast trad hij als gastdirigent op bij een groot aantal orkesten, waaronder het Mozarteumorchester Salzburg en het Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Mahlers Vierte ist heute wohl die beliebteste seiner Symphonien, und wenngleich das Münchner Premierenpublikum sie mit Buh-Rufen belohnte, so war sie in Amsterdam ein großer Erfolg. Was liegt da näher, als sie mit einem niederländischen Orchester wie Het Gelders Orkest aufzunehmen, unter der Leitung eines Dirigenten wie Antonello Manacorda, der als Gründungsmitglied des Mahler Kammerorchesters selbst eine ganz persönliche, enge Beziehung zu Mahler und seiner Musik hat. Im verhaltenen, zarten und glückseligen Loblied der himmlischen Ewigkeit, strahlend und warm gesungen, gelingt Lisa Larsson ein famoses Mahler-Debut. Als kleines musikalisches Bonbon erwarten Sie auf dieser Aufnahme außerdem drei Lieder aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn.

Una nuova lettura di una delle più amate sinfonie di Mahler in SACD.

Il rapporto tra la musica di Mahler e le orchestre olandesi è una tradizione di vecchia data, mentre il nome di Antonello Manacorda è strettamente legato a Mahler, perché è co-fondatore della Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Dopo Haydn e Berlioz, un nuovo disco di Lisa Larsson fuori dal suo repertorio abituale. Come preziosa appendice, tre Lieder da Des Knaben Wunderhorn.

Artist(s)

Lisa Larsson (soprano)

Swedish soprano Lisa Larsson started her career as a flautist and studied singing in Basel. Her first engagement was at the Zurich Opera House, where she performed under a number of conductors including Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Franz Welser-Möst. Following her debut at La Scala in Milan in ›The Magic Flute‹ under Riccardo Muti, she swiftly developed her international opera career, in particular as a Mozart singer performing parts such as Susanna, Pamina, Zaide, Zerlina, Servilia, Ilia, Fortuna and Ismene; other roles included Marzelline, Anne Trulove, Ännchen, Eurydice, Adele, Adina, Oscar, Xenia, Tytania, Polissena and Morgana. She appeared at renowned European opera houses including the Bavarian State Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Royal Danish Opera, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the Leipzig Opera, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Royal Swedish Opera and the Theater Basel as well as at the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.
Lisa Larsson is also a remarkably versatile concert singer of international renown. In recent years she has constantly expanded her broad repertoire with works by Mahler, Richard Strauss, Brahms, Berlioz, Britten and Stravinsky, and has performed in a number of world premieres of contemporary works. Conductors she has worked with include Claudio Abbado, Sir Colin Davis, Daniel Harding, Adam Fischer, Mikhail Pletnev, David Zinman, Antonello Manacorda, Lawrence Renes, Massimo Zanetti, Louis Langrée, Douglas Boyd, Juanjo Mena, Christian Arming, Andrew Manze, Stefan Solyom, Vassily Sinaisky and Edo de Waart. Lisa Larsson has performed with leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Orchestre National de Lyon, the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the New Japan Philharmonic.
In the field of baroque music, she has often worked with leading conductors and their orchestras, including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Roger Norrington, Christopher Hogwood, Frans Brüggen, Andrea Marcon, Emmanuelle Haïm, Ton Koopman, Nathalie Stutzmann, Nicholas McGegan, Paul Goodwin, Martin Haselböck, Gottfried von der Goltz, Trevor Pinnock, Richard Egarr, Fabio Bonizzoni, Jan Willem de Vriend and David Stern.
Highlights of her 2014 | 2015 season include two world premieres of works dedicated to her by Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson: “Ich denke Dein…” for soprano and orchestra, commissioned by the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, and “Garden of Devotion” for soprano and string orchestra, commissioned by the Swedish ensemble Musica Vitae.
“Ich denke Dein…” will be first performed by the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and conducted by John Storgårds who will also lead the Finnish premiere with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. The Dutch premiere will be with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra under its chief conductor Marc Albrecht in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. More performances are planned for future seasons with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra and Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra.
"Garden of Devotion" will be first performed on tour in Sweden by Musica Vitae and conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann. Further performances are scheduled with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under Olari Elts as well as the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra under Stefan Solyom. More performances in future seasons are planned with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Weimar and the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra.
Lisa Larsson will continue her many years of collaboration with Antonello Manacorda in performances of Beethoven’s 9th symphony in the Netherlands as well as Alban Berg’s “Seven Early Songs” and Mahler’s 4th symphony with the BBC Philharmonic. She will also sing the Berg cycle with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra at the Prague Spring Festival and in Liverpool. Performances of Mahler’s 2nd symphony, conducted by Stefan Asbury, are planned for a tour in Holland. Other projects she is looking forward to are two new recital programmes with concerts in Italy together with Andrea Lucchesini and in Switzerland with Roland Pöntinen.
Recent additions to her substantial discography are two Challenge Classics releases: A Haydn album with the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam under the direction of Jan Willem de Vriend as well as Berlioz programme with the Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Antonello Manacorda who is also the conductor of her next CD to be released on the same label in the autumn of 2014 and featuring Mahler’s 4th symphony combined with a selection of “Wunderhorn” songs by Mahler. In spring 2015 she will record Rolf Martinsson’s “Orchestral Songs on Poems by Emily Dickens” with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under Andrew Manze for BIS Records. Her other recordings include Strauss‘ ›Four Last Songs‹ under Douglas Boyd, Mahler’s 8th symphony under David Zinman, the Mozart operas ›Don Giovanni‹ under Daniel Harding, ›Mitridate‹ under Adam Fischer, ›Il sogno di Scipione‹ under Gottfried von der Goltz, Händel‘s ›Jephta‹ under David Stern as well as numerous Bach Cantatas under Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Ton Koopman. With the latter she also recorded Bach’s Christmas and Easter Oratorio as well as the Magnificat.

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Arnhem Philharmonic Orchestra

Motivated by musical ambition, inspired by their public and bonded with their surroundings. That is Het Gelders Orkest! They share their passion for classical music with people from all ages in Gelderland and abroad. They make populair and less populair works and they make music with world famous solists, young top talents and big guest conducters. Their musicians grow and shine in the direction of chef-conducter Antonella Manacorda. He can make as a young 'old soul' the emotions melt with the orchestra like no one else can. Het Gelders Orkest want totouch as many as they can. Beside of organising symphonic concerts they have a bright scala of alternative musical meetings and adventural cross-overs, in the form of kidsconcerts, education-...

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Antonello Manacorda (conductor)

Antonello Manacorda is currently Artistic Director of Kammerakademie Potsdam, a position he has held since 2010. He has been Principal Conductor of the Het Gelders Orkest in the Netherlands since 2011 – a position he bids farewell to in the 2018-19 season. He was Principal Conductor of I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan from 2006-10. In addition to his two current positions, Manacorda also has guest conducting relationships which include the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. He has also worked with a number of other orchestras including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Sydney Symphony. In January 2015 Antonello Manacorda made his debut at the Salzburg Mozartwoche with the Mozarteumorchester...

In addition to his two current positions, Manacorda also has guest conducting relationships which include the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. He has also worked with a number of other orchestras including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Sydney Symphony.

In January 2015 Antonello Manacorda made his debut at the Salzburg Mozartwoche with the Mozarteumorchester in a performance of Schubert’s Alfonso und Estrella followed by an appearance at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in a programme of Strauss and Stravinsky. In February 2014 he conducted a Beethoven Cycle over four consecutive days in Potsdam with Kammerakademie Potsdam, while in April he conducted a performance of Mendelssohn’s complete Midsummer Night’s Dream which was broadcast live from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Manacorda is currently engaged in recording a Schubert Symphony cycle for Sony Classical with the Kammerakademie Potsdam. The recordings have been met with high praise, including one being listed in Die Welt’s top ten CDs of 2013. He has also recently recorded a CD of Mahler’s 4th Symphony with Het Gelders Orkest and soprano Lisa Larsson, which was released in November 2014 by Challenge Records.

With a strong experience in opera as well as symphonic repertoire, in December 2014 Manacorda conducted Kammerakademie Potsdam’s Winter Opera production of Mozart’s La Betulia Liberata to great critical acclaim. He also has a long-standing relationship with Teatro La Fenice, and the director Damiano Michieletto, and will be returning to La Fenice in November 2015 to conduct The Magic Flute. Future opera collaborations include La Monnaie, Theater an der Wien, Komische Oper Berlin and Frankfurt Opera.

A founder-member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Antonello Manacorda was its vice-president and concertmaster for eight years. A scholarship from De Sono in his home town of Turin allowed him to pursue his goal of becoming a conductor by enabling him to study with Jorma Panula for two years in Helsinki. From 2003-06 he was Artistic Director for chamber music at the Académie Européenne de Musique du Festival d’Aix en Provence.

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Composer(s)

Gustav Mahler

During his own time, Gustav Mahler was considered as one of the major conductors of Europe, but nowadays he is considered to a major composer who bridged the Late Romantic period to the modern age. Few composers are so connected with the symphonic repertory as Gustav Mahler. Composing symphonies was his 'core business': in every aspect he developed the symphony towards, and sometimes even over, its absolute limits. Almost all of Mahler's symphonies are lenghty, demand a large orchestra and are particularly great in their expressive qualities. With rustic and mythical atmospheres (the start of the First Symphony), daunting chaos (the end of his Sixth), grand visions (end of his Second), cheerful melodies (opening Fourth), romantic melancholy (the famous adagio of...

During his own time, Gustav Mahler was considered as one of the major conductors of Europe, but nowadays he is considered to a major composer who bridged the Late Romantic period to the modern age.

Few composers are so connected with the symphonic repertory as Gustav Mahler. Composing symphonies was his "core business": in every aspect he developed the symphony towards, and sometimes even over, its absolute limits. Almost all of Mahler's symphonies are lenghty, demand a large orchestra and are particularly great in their expressive qualities. With rustic and mythical atmospheres (the start of the First Symphony), daunting chaos (the end of his Sixth), grand visions (end of his Second), cheerful melodies (opening Fourth), romantic melancholy (the famous adagio of his Fifth), evocations of nature (his Third), megalomanic eruptions in the orchestra (his Eighth), and the clamant atonality of his unfinished Tenth, Mahler's musical palette seemed inexhaustible.

His symphonies are captivating, but some could find it a bit 'over the top' at times. For those, his orchestral songs could undoubtedly show there is an incredibly subtle and refined side to his compositional style as well.

In the Netherlands, Mahler is particularly popular due to its close bond with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, which was already established during his lifetime!

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Press

"Prominently featured in the packaging, she is in effect the star of the show, gifted three extra songs in what is her second collaboration with the accomplished Arnhem-based ensemble on Challenge Classics."
GRAMOPHONE, 01-6-2015

"Thanks to the energetic temperament, it allows the listener to create in his own environment his own imaginary world."
Crescendo Magazine, 11-5-2015

"The singer and recording are excellent"
Luister, 06-3-2015

["].. The three songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn are welcome fillers, and they're beautifully delivered, too, though Manacorda's eloquent and imaginative reading of the Fourth Symphony stands memorably on its own terms."
International Record Review, 01-3-2015

"Manacorda has his own views and doesn't stick to the 'nicht eilen' in the first movement with winterly joy in snow. In the third movement we rise slower than ever through dark clouds to the pompous gate of heaven. Behind this is the radiant light and peace."
NRC Handelsblad, 02-2-2015