Symphony concert
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Gerhild Romberger mezzo-sopran
Iván Fischer conductor
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
I
Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Deat of Children, for mezzo and orchestra. 1901-04)
II
Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor (1901-02, rev. 1904-11)
Death, Destiny and Redemption
This is an important debut in Granada of one of the most relevant orchestras associated with a conductor in recent decades throughout Europe: the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer. With the assistance of the German mezzo Gerhild Romberger they dive into deep Mahlerian waters. The Kindertotenlieder and the 5th Symphony reflect the duality of life and death. In the lieder, Mahler puts music to childhood loss (which Friedrich Rückert, the author of the disturbing poems, really felt) with an intimate and moving orchestration, an expressive mix of pain and resignation. The Fifth, on the other hand, is an epic journey from tragedy to redemption. Its famous Adagietto, a pure expression of love, contrasts with the power and drama of the extreme movements. Both are profound testimonies of the human soul and its struggle against destiny.
