“If you wish to possess the future you must first surmount the past”, wrote Hanns Eisler (1898 – 1962) in the foreword to his Ernste Gesänge (serious songs). The Lieder cycle is Eisler’s swan song, his last
work, completed only weeks before his death and defined by memory and at the same time by the hope of future happiness. Nearly 50 years to the day after the premiere of the work by the Staatskapelle Dresden, that same orchestra under its conductor Christian Thielemann (“top class!” – Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten) dedicates its opening concert to this now world-famous cycle of songs. They have engaged as soloist none other than Thomas Hampson (“With ample range of dynamics and tone colours” – Il Giornale del Popolo) – a premiere both for the singer and for Thielemann, since neither artist has to date performed Eisler’s work.

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PROGRAM

Hanns Eisler
Ernste Gesänge
for Baritone and String Orchestra

Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, WAB 105