Mahler's Kindertotenlieder by Magdalena Kozená

More and more renowned conductors are including Franz Schmidt, who has not yet entered the iron repertoire, in their repertoire. The combination of his Fourth Symphonyfrom 1933 with Mahler's Kindertotenlieder (sung by Magdalena Kožená) is a happy one, as former chief conductor Markus Stenz proves.



Echo from Austria

Deeply felt, lilting and sometimes dancing melodic lines, a late-Romantic harmonic language, a wonderfully rich orchestration full of soloistic parts, a long funeral march... The relationship between the work of Gustav Mahler and Franz Schmidt's Fourth Symphony is easily made. Schmidt, like the fourteen years older Mahler, comes from the relative periphery of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and seeks a similar 'Austrian' sound, imbued with a feeling that an era has come to an end.



Magdalena Kožená sings the Kindertotenlieder

The famous Magdalena Kožená sings the Kindertotenlieder . In them Mahler recalls the loss of his brothers and sisters, based on texts by Friedrich Rückert. After his own daughter Maria-Anna died in 1907, he never included the songs in his programme again. Schmidt's Symphony in turn is a lyrical instrumental Requeim for his daughter Emma.