This recording was made under the direction of Reinbert de Leeuw in December 2019, two months before his death. A few weeks before that, he had called Thomas Dieltjens, artistic director of Het Collectief, to tell him: Since our concert in mid-July 2019, Das Lied von der Erde has constantly been on my mind. I am totally fascinated by it and discover new things in it every day. It would be a dream if we could record this music with the exceptional cast of musicians and soloist singers of the Saintes festival, and preferably the sooner the better. Words failed, as can be gathered from the many concert reviews they received.
It was in 1920 that Schoenberg undertook a transcription for small orchestra of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (a work he particularly venerated), intended for the Viennese Society for Private Musical Performances. But he was unable to complete it, and it was only in 1983 that the musicologist Rainer Riehn took up where Schoenberg had left off and produced a finished version. The result is quite extraordinary: Schoenberg not only managed to reproduce all the original sonorities, he also brought out the extreme density of the score.
Arnold Schoenberg is unquestionably one of the pivotal composers of the 20th century. By opening new aesthetic horizons, he played a crucial role in the development of contemporary classical music. This Sony Classical CD includes 1978 recordings of two works from Schoenberg's expressionist period: Erwartung (1909) and Pierrot Lunaire (1912). It also features an excerpt from the Gurre-Lieder: “Der Lied Der Waldtaube”.
Moving music from 19th century France with Sandra Lied Haga and Katya Apekisheva.