CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Staatskapelle Berlin

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 8:00 PM

Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim, Music Director and Conductor
Thomas Quasthoff, Bass-Baritone

MAHLER Kindertotenlieder
·· Nun will die Sonn’ so hell aufgeh’n
·· Nun seh’ ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen
·· Wenn dein Mütterlein
·· Oft denk’ ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen
·· In diesem Wetter, in diesem Braus
MAHLER Symphony No. 1

Perspectives: Daniel Barenboim

Sponsored by Continental Airlines, the Official Airline of Carnegie Hall

Program Notes:

Not only did the composer of Das Lied von der Erde, comprising six songs, term it “a symphony for alto and tenor soloists and large orchestra,” but even in less extreme cases there is a constant link between the development of Mahler the songwriter and Mahler the symphonist. The interweaving of genres is evident already in the First Symphony and what might be called its companion work, the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer), which dates from the period between 1883 and 1885, when Mahler was second conductor at the Opera House in Kassel.

The song cycle, for which Mahler wrote his own folk-style texts, had been born of his ill-starred love for one of the singers in Kassel, Johanna Richter. “I have written,” he said, “a song cycle dedicated to her … Their burden is this: a man who has found only sadness in love goes forth into the world a wanderer.”

By 1886, when he was busily engaged in writing the First Symphony, Mahler was installed as Arthur Nikisch’s assistant conductor in Leipzig. He was also in love again (and hopelessly again) with the wife of Carl von Weber, the composer’s grandson. As before, frustration was deflected into musical creativity. But Mahler himself cautions against too strong an insistence on the circumstantial origins of the work: “I should like to stress that the symphony goes far beyond the love story on which it is based, or rather, which preceded it in the emotional life of its creator. The external event was only the occasion—so cannot be the subject of the work.”

By the time of its early performances, the work had progressed halfway from specific stimulus to universalized creative response. At the premiere, it was presented not yet as a fully abstract symphony but as a “symphonic poem in two parts.” For the next two performances (Hamburg, 1893, and Weimar, 1894), reacting to the premiere’s mixed reception and wishing to make the music more comprehensible to the public, the composer supplied titles for the two parts and for each of the then five constituent movements. But these titles, and the overall title “Titan” (after a novel by Jean Paul Richter), are general rather than narrowly personal in character:

Part I. From the Days of Youth
1. Spring Without End
2. Blumine (from Blumen—“flowers”)
3. Under Full Sail

Part II. Human Comedy
4. Funeral March in the Manner of Callot
5. From the Inferno to Paradise

It was after the Weimar performance that Mahler removed the Blumine movement and decided to present the work henceforth as a four-movement symphony without descriptive titles, because, he said in a letter, “they are quite inadequate and do not even characterize the music appropriately, but also because I have learned through past experience how the public has been misled by them.”

The tune Mahler turned to for his funeral march, incidentally, is a D-minor version, dimly heard at first on muted solo bass, of the old round “Bruder Martin,” known outside the German-speaking countries as “Frère Jacques.” It is in the consolatory G-major middle section of this movement that the symphony makes one of its two main references to the material of the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. The closing section of the last song, “Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz,” is reworked here in an exquisitely scored passage contrasting two unmuted solo violins with other small string groups, some muted, others unmuted. Mahler’s text in the song version makes it very clear that the “rest under the linden-tree” of which he is speaking is the same kind of rest Schubert and his poet Wilhelm Müller were thinking of in the Winterreise song “Der Lindenbaum”: the rest of death.

The other movement in the symphony that leans heavily on Fahrenden Gesellen material is the first. It begins with an introduction (“Slow— Dragging—Like a sound of nature”) founded on an A spread over six octaves in the strings. The unfathomable depth of this magical opening is enormously enhanced by the use of harmonics, which Mahler added after the first performance because the plain string notes did not “shimmer and glimmer” as he had intended. Out of the mysterious hush, a theme based on the symphony’s characteristic melodic fourths is gradually built up. (One of its multiple entries, intertwined on muted and unmuted horns, clarinet, and English horn, uncannily foreshadows the methods of minimal-ism, if that association is not too absurd for a composer as resolutely maximal as Mahler.)

It is this same theme, transmuted from minor to major, that will provide the rumbustious junketings that end the finale, some 50 minutes later. But meanwhile, at the start of the main first movement, it turns, by the most natural transition, into the theme of the second of the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. This source supplies most of the material for the movement, which is by turns cheerfully leisurely, brooding, and heroic, and its atmosphere also influences the bustling Ländler-style second movement, with its indolent and charming trio.

By the end of the symphony these country airs have been left far behind. After the bitterness of the third movement and the passionate outburst that begins the fourth, nothing less than a heaven-storming conclusion will satisfy Mahler. If the thread that holds the finale’s multifarious episodes together sometimes seems strained near breaking-point, the youthful and inexperienced composer can surely be forgiven. His reach is, indeed, titanic. His grasp scarcely falls short. And in this remarkable First Symphony he achieves far more than those who “more nearly reach their meaner goal.”

—Bernard Jacobson
© 2007 by The Carnegie Hall Corporation

Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim, Music Director and Conductor
With almost 450 years of tradition, Staatskapelle Berlin is one of the oldest orchestras in the world. Originally founded in 1570 as a court orchestra by Prince-Elector Joachim II Hector of Brandenburg, and at first solely dedicated to carrying out musical services for the court, the ensemble expanded its activities with the founding of the Royal Court Opera in 1742 by Frederick the Great. Ever since, the orchestra has been closely tied to Staatsoper Unter den Linden.

Many important musicians have conducted the orchestra: Gaspare Spontini, Felix Mendelssohn, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Felix von Weingartner, Richard Strauss, Erich Kleiber, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Franz Konwitschny, and Otmar Suitner are just a few of the conductors who have decidedly influenced the instrumental and interpretive culture of Staatskapelle Berlin. The works of Richard Wagner—who himself conducted the Königlich Preußische Hofkapelle in 1844 at the premiere of his Flying Dutchman and in 1876 during the preparations for the Berlin premiere of Tristan und Isolde—has represented a pillar of the repertoire of the Staatsoper and its orchestra for some time.

Since 1992, Daniel Barenboim has served as the orchestra’s General Music Director; in 2000 the orchestra named him “Conductor for Life.” He has led the orchestra throughout Europe, Israel, Japan, and China, as well as North and South America. Performances of Beethoven’s complete symphonies and piano concertos in Vienna, Paris, London, New York, and Tokyo; the symphony
cycles of Schumann and Brahms, respectively; and the three-part performance of Wagner’s Ring cycle in Japan are some of the most outstanding events of recent years. As part of the Staatsoper’s Festtage 2007, the symphonies and orchestral songs of Gustav Mahler were performed under the batons of Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez at Berlin’s Philharmonie.

Staatskapelle Berlin was named Orchestra of the Year in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2008 by the journal Opernwelt; in 2003 the orchestra was awarded the Furtwängler Prize. A constantly growing number of recordings in both the operatic and symphonic repertoires document the work of the orchestra: The 2002 recording of Beethoven symphonies was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque, the 2003 recording of Wagner’s Tannhäuser was awarded a Grammy, and the 2007 live recording of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony was awarded an Echo Prize.

In the Orchesterakademie, founded in 1997, young musicians gather professional experience in both opera and concert performance, mentored by members of the Staatskapelle. Furthermore, many Staatskapelle musicians volunteer at Musikkindergarten Berlin, an initiative founded by Daniel Barenboim. Staatskapelle members also dedicate themselves to working in chamber music formations, as well as in the ensemble Preußens Hofmusik, focusing on the Berlin music tradition from the 18th century. This rich musical activity can be experienced in several concert series held at the Staatsoper’s Apollo-Saal.


Daniel Barenboim was born in Buenos Aires in 1942 to parents of Jewish Russian descent. He started piano lessons at the age of five with his mother, continuing to study with his father who remained his only other teacher. In August 1950, when he was seven years old, he gave his first official concert in Buenos Aires.

Important influences in his development as a musician included Artur Rubinstein and Adolf Busch, both of whom performed in Argentina. The Barenboim family moved to Israel in 1952. Two years later, in the summer of 1954, the parents brought their son to Salzburg to take part in Igor Markevich’s conducting classes. During that same summer he also met Wilhelm Furtwängler, attending some of the great conductor’s rehearsals and one of his concerts. In 1955 the young Daniel Barenboim studied harmony and composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.

Mr. Barenboim made his debut as a pianist in Vienna and Rome in 1952, in Paris in 1955, in London in 1956, and in New York in 1957 with Leopold Stokowski conducting the Symphony of the Air. From then on, he made annual concert tours of the US and Europe. He toured Australia in 1958 and soon became known as one of the most versatile pianists of his generation.

He completed his first recordings in 1954 and later began recording the most important works in the piano repertory, including complete cycles of the piano sonatas of Mozart and Beethoven, and concertos by Mozart, Beethoven (with Otto Klemperer), Brahms (with Sir John Barbirolli), and Bartók (with Pierre Boulez).

During the same period, Mr. Barenboim began to devote more time to conducting. His close relationship with the English Chamber Orchestra, kindled in 1965, lasted for more than a decade, during which time he served as both conductor and pianist. Following his conducting debut with the New Philharmonia Orchestra in London in 1967, Mr. Barenboim was in demand with all the leading European and American symphony orchestras. Between 1975 and 1989, he was music director of the Orchestre de Paris, his tenure marked by a commitment to contemporary music with performances of works by Lutoslawski, Berio, Hans Werner Henze, Henri Dutilleux, Takemitsu, and others.

Mr. Barenboim has always been active as a chamber musician, performing with, among others, his late wife, cellist Jacqueline du Pré, as well as with Gregor Piatigorsky, Itzhak Perlman, and Pinchas Zukerman. In recital he has also accompanied Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Thomas Quasthoff, Rolando Villazón, Dorothea Röschmann, among others. In recent years he has performed chamber music at the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival and with members of the Staatskapelle Berlin.

Mr. Barenboim made his opera conducting debut in 1973 with a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Edinburgh International Festival. In 1981 he made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival, where he has since conducted Tristan und Isolde, the Ring cycle, Parsifal, and Die Meistersinger.

In 1991 he succeeded Sir Georg Solti as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, enjoying countless successes in all the world’s great concert halls for 15 years. At the conclusion of his tenure in June 2006, the CSO musicians adopted a resolution naming him “our honorary conductor for life.” In 1992 he became General Music Director of the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin. In the autumn of 2000, the Staatskapelle Berlin appointed him Chief Conductor. He also appears regularly with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras. In 2006 he was named Maestro Scaligero at La Scala, where he conducted Patrice Chéreau’s new production of Tristan und Isolde in December 2007.

Mr. Barenboim is a prolific recording artist with multiple Grammy Awards to his credit. EMI Classics recently released a program of Mozart Piano Trios with Nikolaj Znaider and Kyril Zlotnikov, and a DVD set titled Barenboim on Beethoven that includes the complete piano sonatas, as well as master classes in which Barenboim coaches young pianists such as Lang Lang and Jonathan Biss. Warner Classics and Jazz released his recording of Bach’s complete Well-Tempered Clavier, CDs and DVDs of concerts with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra recorded in London and Ramallah, and two 65th birthday anthologies: Daniel Barenboim: The Pianist and Daniel Barenboim: The Conductor. In 2007, Euroarts released DVDs of Tango Argentina (recorded live in Buenos Aires on New Year’s Eve 2006), and the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Barenboim as soloist and conductor of the Staatskapelle Berlin, recorded in May 2007 at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr.

Thomas Quasthoff, Bass-Baritone
German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff is recognized as one of the most remarkable singers performing today. Since making his US debut at the Oregon Bach Festival with Helmuth Rilling, he has sung with the New York and Los Angeles philharmonics; and the Boston, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras. He has performed under the batons of Daniel Barenboim, Colin Davis, Christoph Eschenbach, Mariss Jansons, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, and Franz Welser-Möst. In recital, Mr. Quasthoff has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center; and in major recital series in San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Toronto, and Atlanta. His festival appearances include Ravinia, Tanglewood, and Mostly Mozart.

A frequent guest at Carnegie Hall, Mr. Quasthoff’s appearances include the opening concert of the 2001–2002 season with the Berliner Philharmoniker led by Claudio Abbado, a recital with Angela Denoke and Daniel Barenboim at the piano, and two solo recitals with pianist Justus Zeyen. During the 2006–2007 season, he was a Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist, performing with The Cleveland Orchestra and presenting an evening of American popular song. Mr. Quasthoff returned to Carnegie in 2007–2008 to perform with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle, and in recital with Dorothea Röschmann and Ian Bostridge.

Mr. Quasthoff has amassed an impressive discography that includes recordings for BMG, Haenssler, EMI-Electrola, Philips, and the Bayer labels. An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon recording artist since 1999, three of his CDs have received Grammy Awards: Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Anne Sofie von Otter and Claudio Abbado; Schubert lieder with orchestra, also with von Otter and Abbado; and Bach cantatas with the Berlin Baroque Soloists. Other recordings on Deutsche Grammophon include Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin, Schubert’s
Schwanengesang, and Brahms’s Vier ernste Gesänge with pianist Justus Zeyen; A Romantic Songbook (German lieder), also with Zeyen; a DVD of Winterreise with Daniel Barenboim; Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer with Pierre Boulez and the Vienna Philharmonic; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Claudio Abbado and the Berliner Philharmoniker; and a recent, Grammynominated CD of sacred arias. Mr. Quasthoff’s most recent releases are a disc of Bach Dialogue Cantatas with Dorothea Röschmann and Watch What Happens: The Jazz Album.

The subject of numerous articles in national publications—including Time, People, and Esquire magazines—Mr. Quasthoff has also been profiled on 60 Minutes. A German television documentary about Mr. Quasthoff was awarded a Golden Camera—the German equivalent to the Emmy. Mr. Quasthoff’s autobiography was recently published in Europe; a translated version was published in the US by Pantheon Books in June 2008.

Mr. Quasthoff’s international career was launched when he was awarded First Prize in the 1988 ARD International Music Competition in Munich. He received the Order of Merit from the President of the German Republic in October 2005, and in 2006 he was awarded the European Culture Prize for Music at the Dresden Frauenkirche.

A dedicated teacher and advocate for young vocalists, Mr. Quasthoff was a professor at the Music Academy in Detmold, Germany, from 1996–2004. In October 2004, he was appointed Professor of Music at the Hanns Eisler School for Music in Berlin.