‘Among my works, the first in which I found myself as “Mahler” is a tale for chorus, soloists and orchestra: Das klagende Lied! For me, this work is my opus 1.’ The composer wrote the sad and romantic text for this ‘tale for concert hall’ himself, based on an old story about fratricide between the sons of a king in a quest for power and love. Mahler was barely twenty years old when he finished this work, yet it already contained the elements which would later characterise his work: brilliant orchestration, a romantic fascination for folk tradition – also perceptible in his Lieder aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn – and, above all, a tragic view of the world – such as in Todtenfeier, a symphonic poem which would become the first movement of his Symphony No. 2 – leading to the typically Mahlerian melancholy... ‘Oh Leide, weh! Oh Leide!’

La Monnaie presents in Belgian premiere the original version of Das klagende Lied (1887-80),  a cantata for large orchestra, chorus, two boy singers and four adult soloists