Gustav Mahler; Xiaogang Ye - The Song of the Earth (Long Yu)

Information

Composer: Gustav Mahler; Xiaogang Ye

• CD1: Mahler - Das Lied von der Erde
• CD2: Ye - The Song of the Earth, Op. 47

Michelle DeYoung, mezzo-soprano

Brian Jagde, tenor

Liping Zhang, soprano

Shenyang, baritone

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

Long Yu, conductor

Date: 2021

Label: Deutsche Grammophon

https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/the-song-of-the-earth-long-yu-11680

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Review

Gustav Mahler said that a symphony should encompass the world, and he perhaps never cast his net more widely than with Das Lied von der Erde ("The Song of the Earth"), a vocal symphony setting Chinese texts of the Tang Dynasty. The texts passed through French and several German translations before landing with Mahler, but he succeeded in creating something truly exotic, with pentatonic scales and other chinoiseries, that suggests a transcendent quality much on the troubled Mahler's mind. Here, Das Lied von der Erde is paired with a setting of the same texts, in Mandarin, rearranged but ending with the same ones, by contemporary Chinese composer Xiaogang Ye. Considering the growing popularity of Western symphonic music in China, it's a bit surprising that nobody has attempted something like this before, but this outing avoids obvious solutions and is quite absorbing. It's notable that Ye, partly trained in the West, generally does not attempt a Chinese-sounding score. Instead, he takes the position that the project as a whole represents a kind of cross-cultural exchange. His most prominent model is Mahler, and he follows Mahler's forces with a pair of voices and an orchestra in which the brass have a great deal to do, but neither does he follow Mahler slavishly, and the result is a score that feels Chinese without obvious clues. The dramatic finale has an entirely different effect from Mahler's reflections on death and farewell. As for the Mahler, conductor Long Yu and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra prove themselves competent Mahlerians whose rather quick performances play up the Chinese elements and aptly capture the work's trajectory from "The Drinking Song of Earth's Misery" to the heavenly conclusion. Long Yu's singers in Western in the Mahler and Chinese in the Ye, all acquit themselves well, but mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung, who has recorded the work before with the Minnesota Orchestra, is a standout. This delivers exactly the thoughtful cross-cultural document it promises.

-- James Manheim, AllMusic

More reviews:
https://www.ft.com/content/902ffea1-1f90-4033-abe4-21fd677b6fa1

https://www.classical-music.com/reviews/choral-song/mahler-xiaogang-ye-the-song-of-the-earth/

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2021/Aug/Mahler-Ye-4837452.htm

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jul/29/mahler-ye-the-song-of-the-earth-review-long-yu

https://www.amazon.com/Gustav-Mahler-Xiaogang-Song-Earth/dp/B09244VN5Q

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Gustav Mahler (7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austrian composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. In his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, but his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of neglect. After 1945, Mahler became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers. Most of his works are very large-scaled, designed for large orchestral forces, symphonic choruses and operatic soloists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Mahler

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Ye Xiaogang (叶小纲; born 1955 in Shanghai) is regarded as one of China’s leading contemporary composers. He studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in China and the Eastman School of Music. His teachers include Mingxin Du, Samuel Adler, Joseph Schwantner, Louis Andriessen and Alexander Goehr. Ye has composed a large number of works in a variety of genres, including symphonic, chamber, dance– drama and opera pieces, as well as film and TV music. His music can be found on EMI Classics, Wergo, Hugo, Naxos, BIS, Delos and Deutsche Grammophon, among others.

https://www.naxos.com/person/Xiaogang_Ye/22759.htm

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Yu Long (born July 1, 1964) is a Chinese conductor. He studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Berlin University of the Arts. Yu is currently artistic director and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic (since 2000) and of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (since 2009), music director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra (since 2003), and principal guest conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (since 2015). Under him, the China Philharmonic performed for Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican (2008), and was the first Chinese orchestra to perform at the BBC Proms (2014).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Long

https://www.maestrolongyu.com/

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