大象传媒

Live from the Royal Festival Hall

Presented by Martin Handley.

In our first broadcast from the South Bank's concert series 'The Rest is Noise', Sir Mark Elder conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in music by three of the most influential composers of the twentieth century. Concluding part:

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde

Lilli Paasikivi (mezzo-soprano)
Paul Groves (tenor)
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Mark Elder (conductor)

'The Rest is Noise: the Soundtrack of the Twentieth Century' is a series of nearly one hundred events, including concerts, performances, film screenings, talks and debates, organised by London's South Bank Centre. The title is inspired by the acclaimed 2007 book 'The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century', by American music critic Alex Ross, and the series is an exploraton of how 'war, race, sex and politics shaped the most important music of the 20th century'. The series revolves around performances by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and tonight they are conducted by Sir Mark Elder in three works from the first decade of the century. Mahler completed 'Das Lied von der Erde' in 1909, following his Eighth Symphony, weaving two vocal soloists into a monumental symphonic texture. Schoenberg's Five Orchestral Pieces date from 1909, described by the composer as "a vivid, uninterrupted succession of colours and moods". Anton Webern studied first with Mahler, and then with Schoenberg, and his 1908 work 'Im Sommerwind' is pre-serial Webern, a piece that was never performed in his lifetime.