Daniel Harding / Gil Shaham

Daniel Harding continues with a complete performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphonies in chronological order at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, as part of the Symphonic Music Season of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

This time, the maestro transports us to the luminous Symphony No. 4, a score that encompasses a reflection on the themes of death and childhood, not lacking in ironic touches, and which concludes with the famous lied, "The Heavenly Life”, entrusted here to the angelic voice of Christiane Karg. The evening opens with the Violin Concerto No. 7 by American composer Alexey Shor (born in 1970), performed by Gil Shaham, a soloist with a refined and communicative sound.

Composed between 1899 and 1901, Symphony No. 4 in G major completes the group of three so-called Wunderhorn Symphonies (Magic Horn Symphonies), symphonies consisting of instrumental and vocal movements whose texts are mostly inspired by Arnim Brentano's collection of German folk poems, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Child's Magic Horn). At its heart is a mythical, fairy-tale world, childlike and bucolic, a sort of lost earthly paradise. In the song Das himmlische Leben (The Heavenly Life), it is described through childlike eyes as a heavenly place. A grandiose work, therefore, which presents an interweaving of rich orchestral sounds and complex melodies.

Another highlight of the evening is the Italian debut of Alexey Shor's Violin Concerto No. 7, a concerto renowned for its emotional depth and lyrical grace, performed by an outstanding master violinist. 

Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia
conductor: Daniel Harding
violin: Gil Shaham
soprano: Christiane Karg

Shor: Violin Concerto No. 7
Mahler: Symphony No. 4 "The Heavenly Life"

Photo: the Auditorium Parco della Musica official site