Mahler masterpiece to be performed at three different venues
Ingela Onstad and John Tirrano tasked with ‘Song of the Earth’ solos
Leonard Bernstein declared Mahler’s “Song of the Earth” his greatest symphony.
On Sunday, Aug. 11, a chamber orchestra of 15 plus two singers will command the Chatter stage in a performance of what is considered Gustav Mahler’s masterpiece.
The musicians will repeat the performance in a free concert at the Albuquerque Museum on Thursday, Aug. 15. The concert will debut at SITE Santa Fe on Wednesday, Aug .10.
The music reflects the most painful period of Mahler’s life: in 1907, political maneuvering and anti-semitism forced him to resign as director of the Vienna Court Opera, even though he had been hailed as one of the greatest conductors of all time; his eldest daughter Maria died from scarlet fever and doctors diagnosed the composer with a congenital heart defect.
“With one stroke,” he wrote, “I have lost everything I have gained in terms of who I thought I was and have to learn my first steps again like a newborn.”
That same year saw the publication of Hans Bethge’s “Die Chinesische Flöe,” a volume of ancient Chinese poetry translated into German. Mahler chose seven of the poems to set to music. The text features poetic titles such as “The Solitary One in Autumn,” “Beauty” and “The Farewell.”
Mahler originally set the work to a massive orchestration. In 1918, the composer Arnold Schoenberg arranged it for an ensemble.
At Chatter, soprano Ingela Onstad and tenor John Tirrano will helm the solos.
“It’s typically sung by a mezzo-soprano,” Onstad said. “I have a good low register. I’ve always enjoyed singing down there.
“The work is absolutely ethereal,” she added. “It’s a pretty large-scale piece for Chatter.”
Mahler penned his pain into the music, she said.
“You hear so much of Mahler’s personal struggles at the end of his life.”
The composer refused to number “Das Lied von der Erde” as his ninth symphony, worried about the “curse” that had befallen other great composers (Beethoven, Schubert, and Dvorak, to name a few) after completing their ninth. Mahler died just before the Munich premier in 1911.
“The Solitary One in Autumn” is heartbreaking, Onstad said.
“It’s just divine,” she said. “It’s such gorgeous, heart-rending music. You just have the idea of things coming to an end.” “Beauty” is more joyful. “It’s about a group of maidens sitting at a lake and a group of young men come up on horses.”
The closing “Farewell” lasts 30 minutes.
“It’s sort of like the voice and the orchestra are singing a duet,” she explained.
Onstad is a Chatter regular; she usually performs there from two to three times a year. She teaches voice in Albuquerque and also works as a therapist; she’s launching her own business specializing in performance anxiety.