Brahms / Mahler: Autumnal Gold

Any selection of lieder, no matter how broad, inevitably focuses on the German language, as dictated by the theoretical, historical, and technical definition of the word 'Lied' and the genre 'Lieder'. The particular selection of lieder on this album combines something poetic, and their content ranges from eros to nostalgia. The lieder of Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler transport the listener into a sphere that is almost independent of time and space. At the same time, the atmosphere and the movement of the passeggiata—a light, casual stroll—can be felt. This image, which implies the idea of 'movement' in space and time (the short space of a public garden, the short space of a spring afternoon, or that between summer and autumn), takes on a much broader meaning as soon as we make a logical connection between the democratic social and cultural function of the 'proms' and the mature self-analysis of the kind of sublime, profound music that is closely linked to a poetic text of similar spiritual level, which, between 1860 and 1914—between the national (or even 'nationalistic') undertones of the aforementioned culture and the First World War—was such a characteristic feature of Austro-German culture. The contralto Sara Mingardo is accompanied by violist Danusha Waskiewicz and pianist Aldo Orvieto.