Klaus Mäkelä dirige Betsy Jolas y Mahler

The Philharmonie de Paris celebrates life! The acclaimed Klaus Mäkelä, Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris at just twenty-six, leads the storied ensemble in the world premiere of a new composition by Betsy Jolas, followed by Mahler’s Symphony No. 2—better known under the apt and vivid moniker of Resurrection. The Choir of the Orchestre de Paris, directed by Ingrid Roose, joins the evening’s festivities, along with two celebrated vocalists: soprano Mari Eriksmoen and contralto Wiebke Lehmkuhl.

The evening’s thematic throughline is an open question on end times and destiny, a musical study on Dasein. The artistic output of Franco-American composer Betsy Jolas is known for its search of beauty and expressiveness, with an attention to tradition; among the most acclaimed of today’s composers, her singular style finds an exquisite balance between contemporary and classic.

Mahler, for his part, used his Second Symphony to pose one of the most existential of questions: is there life after death? He ostensibly found his answer in the words of the German poet Klopstock, sung in the last act: “Rise again, yes, rise again,/Will you, my dust, after a brief rest!/Immortal life! Immortal life."

Photo © Marco Borggreve

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