TRACKLISTING

1 Der Schildwache Nachtlied
2 Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht?
3 Der Tamboursg’sell
4 Das irdische Leben
5 Verlor’ne Müh’
6 Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt
7 Urlicht
8 Revelge
9 Rheinlegendchen
10 Lob des hohen Verstands
11 Trost im Unglück
12 Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen
13 Lied des Verfolgten im Turm
14 Das himmlische Leben

RECORDING INFORMATION

Riccardo Chailly adds to his critically acclaimed series of Mahler recordings with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra this unusual new version of the great song cycle Des Knaben Wunderhorn with an outstanding team of vocal soloists.

This recording presents the work with four soloists (most previous recordings feature just two). This new approach is based on Riccardo Chailly's extensive research into performances in which Mahler chose to perform selected songs with a singer of a particular voice type.

The vocal line-up is led by two stars of German song, baritone Matthias Goerne and soprano Barbara Bonney with rising mezzo-soprano star Sara Fulgoni and the late Gösta Winbergh in one of his last recordings (he died in Vienna in March 2002).

Des Knaben Wunderhorn was originally written for voice and piano, though Mahler himself later produced this orchestral version. Based on the famous nineteenth-century collection of German poems by Achim von Arnim and his brother-in-law Clemens Brentano, the songs tell of peasant life and love, military life and religious faith.

The songs are at times funny, charming, chilling and mischievous with a rich flow of lyrical melody. The work is central to Mahler's output as he reused melodies from Des Knaben Wunderhorn in at least four of his great symphonies.