Mahler’s Earth song

‘Das Lied von der Erde’ (The Song of the Earth) was reckoned by Leonard Bernstein to have been Gustav Mahler’s greatest symphony.

It was written in 1907 against a backdrop of events that greatly affected the composer - his eldest daughter died, he was diagnosed with a heart defect, and he resigned as the director of the Vienna Court Opera because of anti-semitism.

A symphony, it is also described as an orchestral song cycle. The two singers can be a tenor and alto or tenor and baritone. It is the latter of these combinations that will be in Palma for the Balearic Symphony Orchestra’s performance of ‘Das Lied von der Erde’ - Australia’s leading tenor, Steve Davislim, and German baritone Dietrich Henschel.