The Art of Listening

Something slightly different.

For the last four of our Summer sessions I’ll be presenting you with a number of interpretations of famous operatic arias or orchestral songs. Each session will be accompanied by a dropdown menu to allow you to choose your preferred performance

We’ll start – not in the opera house, thereby avoiding (temporarily) the questions of characterisation and the possible distractions of a production – with an orchestral song.

Of all of Mahler’s several settings of the poetry of Friedrich Rückert, one of the most famous is Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen [I am lost to the world]. Here’s the text, which is divided into four line stanzas:

… and here’s the score of the song; notice that the vocal range puts it within the mezzo soprano or (an octave lower) baritone Fächer:

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… and these are the eight interpretations that I’ve chosen:

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You can now register your available dates for Merlin’s garden party/lunch by clicking here.

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