Gustav Mahler, 1902, by Emil Orlik
The music-loving public has embraced Mahler as the most important symphonic voice of fin-de-siecle Vienna. He died in 1911, before the cataclysmic events of the century, yet he appears to be a prophetic representative of our own time. His inner life was insecure and anguished, even as his public persona was that of a charismatic conductor. Today, more recordings are being made of Mahler’s symphonies than those of Beethoven and Brahms. Popular Smithsonian music lecturer Saul Lilienstein takes an in-depth look at one of the seminal figures of the modern age and his music. Sessions are highlighted by music and DVD recordings.
APR 18 The Early Years (1860–1884)
Mahler’s upbringing: the tension of a tragic household; Jewish life in a Bohemian ghetto; the teenage student in Vienna; the beginnings of a public career. Das Klagende Lied (The Song of Lament); early songs; Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (The Songs of a Wayfarer).
APR 25 From Kassel to Prague and Leipzig (1884–1892)
The composer, influenced by Beethoven and Wagner; the opera conductor learning his trade. Symphony No. 1, the “Titan”; songs from Das Knaben Wunderhorn.
MAY 2 Years of Triumph (1892-1897)
Mahler achieves international stature as an opera conductor; Symphonies No. 2 and No. 3.
MAY 9 Symphony, Opera. and Alma (1901-1903)
Vienna’s greatest decade of opera production; Mahler marries Anna Schindler. Symphony No. 4, the Ruckert Lieder, and Symphony No. 5.
MAY 16 Years of Struggle (1904–1907)
Antisemitism in Vienna. Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Deaths of Children), Symphonies No. 6 and No. 7.
MAY 23 The Final Years (1908–1911)
A career in New York; death in Vienna. Symphony No. 8; Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth); Symphony No. 9; Symphony No. 10 (incomplete).
6 sessions
