Interview
Anne Sofie von Otter in conversation with Christoph Hartmann Simon Rattle conducts Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde”
Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker brought their performance of all of Gustav Mahler’s major orchestral works to a close with Das Lied von der Erde. Mahler himself described it as “probably the most personal work I have written so far”. And indeed, Mahler, already terminally ill at the time of composition, eulogises here the departure from life with a sincerity that still moves us today.
Listening to it, it is easy to concur with Mahler’s assessment. For although Das Lied von der Erde exudes a certain exotic strangeness through the use of 8th century Chinese poetry, the listener always has the feeling of being addressed directly and intimately by the composer. Firstly, because Mahler forgoes the gigantic orchestral forces of his symphonies, and secondly, because the listener always feels that the sadness of these songs is not a pose. Mahler, who was already terminally ill at the time of composition, poignantly expresses his farewell to life.
The final scene from Leoš Janáček’s operatic fable The Cunning Little Vixen which opens the concert, reveals fascinating parallels to Das Lied von der Erde. Janáček, born like Mahler in what today is an area of the Czech Republic, creates a wonderfully delicate scene in which the Forester ponders life – and in turn bids farewell to youth and beauty.
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle
Gerald Finley
Anne Sofie von Otter
Stuart Skelton
© 2011 Berlin Phil Media GmbH
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