Konzerthausorchester Berlin

“I took you to be a classic”, wrote Arnold Schönberg to Gustav Mahler after hearing the Viennese premiere of his 7th symphony, adding: “But one who continues to be an example to me.” At the centre of the work are three movements in which Mahler investigates the essence of the night from the idyllic serenade style to the shadowy grotesque, expanding the orchestral sound with such unusual instruments as the guitar and the mandolin.

Iván Fischer and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin prepend these nocturnal works with a Lieder cycle by Marc-André Dalbavie – a composer not only connected to Mahler through his brilliant art of instrumentation. The cycle is based on sonnets composed in 1555 by poet and musician Louise Labé: classic love poems that were rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century on account of the self-confidence with which female desire is expressed.