Píseň o zemi - CD

Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde is performed here in its arrangement for chamber ensemble by Arnold Schoenberg and Rainer Riehn, with Dagmar Pecková as mezzo-soprano, Richard Samek as tenor, the Schoenberg Chamber Orchestra and conductor Petr Altrichter. In contrast to the Eighth Symphony, the “Symphony of a Thousand,” this vocal-symphonic work speaks in an unexpectedly intimate language filled with tenderness and profound sadness, reflecting the essence of Mahler’s soul at the end of his life. The sorrow running through all six songs seems to dissolve at the work’s conclusion in the repeatedly reconciled word “forever,” opening an infinite space beyond this life. Pecková’s international career has been closely associated with Mahler from the beginning, as shown by her acclaimed recordings with Jiří Bělohlávek and the PKF. Her partner here is tenor Richard Samek, whose voice is known to audiences at major European opera houses. To heighten the work’s intimacy, Pecková chose Schoenberg’s chamber arrangement instead of an oversized Romantic orchestra, fulfilling a personal dream and completing the final missing piece in her Mahler discography.