‘To me, writing a symphony means using all the technical resources at one’s disposal to construct a world’. These words of Mahler’s characterize not only his symphonies, but his entire oeuvre, including the songs. True to the legacy of Beethoven, they display great cyclical unity. Mahler is more capable than anyone of reconciling a highly lyrical-romantic musical style with popular-sounding passages. A century after Mahler’s death, his name adorns concert programmes everywhere and his Lieder repertoire also arouses considerable interest. Thomas Hampson is the perfect performer for Mahler’s songs, in both the orchestral and keyboard versions. This American baritone can look back on a long career as a musician and during that time he has more than once taken Mahler’s music as his travelling companion.

This recital will not take place, as was scheduled on Saturday 4 June, but on Saturday 25 June.