For Het Collectief, Mahler’s Song of the Earth will always remain connected to the accursed year 2020. And not just because of the corona crisis. When we had finished the recording session at the beginning of January, we did not know that our conductor, and the arranger of this new Mahler transcription Reinbert de Leeuw, would die a good month later. The farewell to life, so poignantly described in The Song of the Earth, could not be any harder.
When the corona crisis came on top of that, the year 2020 promised to be an extremely morbid year. Still, with two concerts that escaped corona in September, we were able to write a new chapter thanks to Gregor Mayrhofer. This young German conductor commanded admiration by dignified following in Reinbert's footsteps.
We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to redo this experience during the KLARAFESTIVAL. This live concert will also be available on the new culture channel Podium 19.