Conductor MANUEL HERNANDEZ SILVA
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Vier letzte Lieder, TrV 296 (Last four songs), R. Strauss
Raquel Lojendio soprano
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Sympnony no. 4 in en G major, IMG 10, G. Mahler
1.40 h (w/intermission)
orquestafilarmonicademalaga.com
It is undoubtable that Richard Strauss’ Last Four Songs were intended for soprano and orchestra, possibly imagined with the voice of his wife Pauline de Ahna. The texts talk about death and the serene acceptance of destiny, taken from poems by e Joseph von Eichendorff and Hermann Hesse. The musician did not live to hear these lieder, first performed at the Royal Albert Hall of London on the 22nd of May 1950 by the Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad and the Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler.
Mahler’s Symphony no. 4 represents a turning point in the composer’s symphonic work, and summarises in a condensed manner everything he had written before in this repertoire. It might seem to be a light amusement, but a detailed analysis reveals that behind apparent simplicity there lies great inventive richness, brilliant polyphonic capacity, and manifest technical skill reflected in his refined music, without precedent in his work, and noteworthy concentration of aesthetic thought. It was first performed in Munich on the 25th of November 1901, with the composer as conductor.
