Le Balcon

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Das lied von der Erde - The Song of the Earth (1907)
Version for chamber orchestra by Arnold Schönberg (1920), completed by Rainer Riehn (1983)

Pedro García Velásquez
La Selva virgen, en la selva oscura - Prelude and Interludes to Song of the Earth (2020) :
Sculptures and set design by Marion Flament & Jimme Cloo, Bigtime Studio.

“In one of the Chinese poems that inspired The Song of the Earth, we find this phrase that sums up all his music: ”If I stop singing or laughing, no one in the world will know how sad I am." Mahler composes either songs or sarcastic, diabolical scherzos, in other words, laughter. Laughter all the time! Mahler's music consists of a host of slightly monstrous characters who laugh, sing and dance. In Mahler, song and laughter express the tragedy of the world, the absolute tragedy of existence on earth."

Maxime Pascal

Premiere July 2, 2020 at the Saint-Denis Basilica, as part of the Saint-Denis Festival