Songs by Gustav and Alma Mahler in France and Switzerland

This October, Joyce DiDonato travels to Dijon, Paris, and Geneva, singing songs by Gustav Mahler and Alma Mahler, both in recital and with orchestra. 

Joyce returns to the Orchestre National de France, appearing with them on October 9 at the L’auditorium Dijon, followed by a performance on October 10 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. These concerts mark a welcome return for Joyce, who has enjoyed a long relationship with the orchestra.

Led by conductor Cristian Măcelaru, Joyce will sing Alma Mahler’s Fünf Lieder, orchestrated by Jorma Panula. Written between 1900 to 1901, during the tumultuous period of Alma Mahler’s relationship with Alexander Zemlinsky and her romance with Gustav Mahler, both her skills as a pianist and her literary tastes are on full display. Joyce will also sing Gustav Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, which were written at nearly the same time, in the summer of 1901. Based on poetry by Friedrich Rückert, these five songs are some of Mahler’s most lyrical and melodic. Măcelaru will also lead the orchestra in two tone poems by Richard Strauss, Death and transfiguration and Don Juan. 

Joyce and pianist Craig Terry, a frequent collaborator, will appear in recital on October 11 at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. In addition to Fünf Lieder and Rückert-Lieder, Joyce will also sing Joseph Haydn’s dramatic Arianna a Naxos and Claude Debussy’s sensual Chansons de Bilitis.