Franz Welser-Möst conducts Mahler — With Simon Keenlyside

The musicians of one of America's finest orchestras bring their storied sound to the famed Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria—home country of their esteemed music director, the great Franz Welser-Möst, who leads them here in an all-Mahler program! With them this evening is the captivating Simon Keenlyside, voted one of the ten best baritones of all time in BBC Music Magazine, who begins the program in a selection of Mahler's songs, including bright compositions from Mahler's youth—arranged for baritone and orchestra by Luciano Berio—and excerpts from Des Knaben Wunderhorn. After the pause, Welser-Möst and the universally acclaimed orchestra turn their focus to Mahler's Symphony No. 7, nicknamed Lied der Nacht (Song of the Night), often viewed as a journey from a tonally uncertain dusk to the broad daylight of its C major finale. Played less often than some of Mahler's other symphonies, the Seventh is nonetheless a richly rewarding listen, full of unconventional instrumentation with the use of tenorhorn, guitar, mandolin, and cowbell.

Photo © Roger Mastroianni