Premieres from the Archives
Fridays in October
This October on Fridays at 21:00 CEST, Stingray Classica presents four previously unseen broadcasts from its archives. On October 7, Wolfgang Gönnenwein leads the Orchester der Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele and the Süddeutscher Madrigalchor Stuttgart in a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms. In this work, which was written for mixed chorus and orchestra, the composer included verses from Psalms 38, 39, and 150 from the Latin Vulgate Bible. On October 14, Gönnenwein and the Orchester der Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele return with an unforgettable performance of Gustav Mahler’s spellbinding Rückert-Lieder by Welsh soprano Margaret Price. One week later, Stingray Classica presents Manuel de Falla’s El sombrero de tres picos (The three-cornered hat), performed by the Radio Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart under the baton of Garcia Navarro. The special closes on October 28 with another great Gustav Mahler composition: Das Lied von der Erde (1908). Semyon Bychkov leads the Sinfonieorchester Köln in a performance of Mahler’s masterpiece, featuring mezzosoprano Waltraud Meier and tenor Torsten Kerl as soloists.
Stravinsky - Symphony of Psalms
Friday, October 7 | 21:00
German conductor Wolfgang Gönnenwein leads the Orchester der Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele and the Süddeutscher Madrigalchor Stuttgart in a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms (1930). The composer included verses from Psalms 38, 39, and 150 from the Vulgate bible in Latin in his work, which was written for mixed chorus and orchestra. The three movements of the symphony are performed without break. Remarkable is the work’s unique orchestration, which leaves out violins, violas, and clarinets, as Stravinsky wanted to avoid a Romantic orchestral sound. This performance was recorded at the 1988 Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele.
Mahler - Rückert-Lieder
Friday, October 14 | 21:00
Welsh soprano Margaret Price performs Gustav Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder. She is accompanied by the Orchester der Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele under the baton of Wolfgang Gönnenwein. Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder are a collection of five songs based on poetry of Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866). Mahler completed both a piano and an orchestral version of the first four songs during the summer of 1901, but he never got around to orchestrating the fifth song, “Liebst du um Schönheit” (‘Lovest thou but beauty’). Mahler wrote this overt love song for his bride Alma Schindler. This performance was recorded at the 1988 Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele.
De Falla - El sombrero de tres picos
Friday, October 21 | 21:00
Spanish conductor Garcia Navarro leads the Radio Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart in a performance of Manuel de Falla’s El sombrero de tres picos (‘The three-cornered hat’). Originally a ballet score, De Falla composed the piece in 1916 and 1917. The ballet was commissioned by Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev for his Ballets Russes, and saw its premiere at the London Alhambra Theatre in 1919. As De Falla was interested in traditional Spanish folk music, he included elements of this music in his score. The mezzo-soprano’s parts are examples of cante jondo, a vocal style in flamenco. In this performance, recorded in 1988, mezzo-soprano Paloma Pérez Iñigo handles those vocal parts with conviction.
Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde
Friday, October 28 | 21:00
Russian-born conductor Semyon Bychkov leads the Sinfonieorchester Köln in a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (‘The Song of the Earth’, 1908). Mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier and tenor Torsten Kerl star as the soloists in this performance, recorded at the Kölner Philharmonie, Germany, 2001. Das Lied von der Erde is an orchestral song cycle for two voices and a large orchestra. The six movements alternate between the two soloists. The movements are settings of ancient Chinese poetry from Die chinesische Flöte (‘The Chinese flute’), paraphrased by Hans Bethge (1876-1946). Mahler was enthralled by the vision of earthly beauty and transience expressed in these poems.