ANTONELLO MANACORDA

Antonello Manacorda

At the end of the 19th century, Vienna was a city where the beauty and creativity of the arts coexisted with the threatening shadows of political tension. Romantic melody was beginning to evolve into something more complex. Past and present meet naturally in both Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, presented here by the ever-inquisitive Antonello Manacorda, who previously led the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana in memorable performances of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony. Mahler brings the Lied into the heart of his intricate symphonic architecture in his first four symphonies, doing so in this final one with apparent simplicity: a concluding movement that sings of “The Heavenly Life” with dreamlike purity and intimate melancholy. The young and passionate Berg inherits that emotional legacy of late Romanticism, the same fascination with nature and night, though concentrated into the intimate gesture of song. These works are brought to life by the sensual and velvety voice of German soprano Christiane Karg, a regular guest of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Concertgebouw.