Das Lied von der Erde

Conductor Alevtina Ioffe, chief conductor of Bern Opera and first guest conductor of Staatskapelle Weimar, leads Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, a work composed during a period marked by illness, loss, and personal crisis.

The music alternates between exuberant joy, nature poetry, and existential farewell. The texts are adaptations of Chinese poems from the 8th-9th century, yet their themes remain profoundly relevant. The work premiered only after Mahler's death - at its premiere, deep silence reportedly followed the final movement, Der Abschied: no applause, but a moved, almost shocked response to the quiet, nearly dissolving conclusion.

The image associated with the concert was painted by Arnold Schönberg and is titled Das Begräbnis Gustav Mahlers (1911). Schönberg and Mahler held great mutual respect for each other.

Conductor: Alevtina Ioffe
Soloists: Justina Gringytė, alto / Alexander Fedorov, tenor
Program: G. Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde