THE HEART OF MAHLER
1901, on the 7th of November Gustav Mahler, Director of the
Royal Opera, met and fell in love with “the most beautiful girl in
Vienna”, Alma Schindler, over dinner at the house of Berta Zuckerkandl.
The girl, who was nineteen years younger than he, yielded to the court-
ship, and the wedding took place just a few weeks later. Alma became
the indispensable companion and muse of her husband, who idolized
her. The compositions of the latter years of his life are unimaginable
without Alma.
2010 celebrates the 150th anniversary of Gustav Mahler’s birth.
Please join us for the second program in concert:nova’s Composer's
Portrait Series. Begun last April with “Demystifying Schoenberg”,
“The Heart of Mahler” takes an intimate look at some of the most
personal themes of the composer’s life through the eyes of Alma Mahler,
and two major works: Das Lied von der Erde and the epic Fourth
Symphony in G Major.
Having out-lived her husband by 50 years, Alma, played by actress
Amy Warner, shares her personal stories of the composer’s life, based on
existing letters and diary entries. A socialite who presided over one of
Vienna’s key social circles, Alma invites her guests into the “parlor” for an
evening ofmusic.
Featuring tenor Jason Slayden, Das Lied von der Erde, or, “Song of the Earth”,
was inspired by a volume of 8th century Chinese poetry by Li Bai entitled
The Chinese Flute. The poetry had a remarkable influence on Mahler, as he
found in these poems an echo of his own increasing awareness of mortality.
But he was so very taken by the vision of earthly beauty and transience in
the verses, that he set seven of them to music. In his words “ I think it is
probably the most personal composition I have created thus far.”
Soprano Audrey Luna joins concert:nova for Erwin Stein's chamber version
of Symphony No. 4. While Mahler's music is commonly thought of as large-
scale works often written for hundreds of musicians, Stein’s arrangement
retains the essential structure of the piece, evoking a unique sense of
intimacy with the music. Its transcendental themes pack enormous impact,
doing so with an ensemble of only 12 musicians. “The Heart of Mahler”
promises to engage us with the composer in ways that are surprising
and new
