Concert last night

Last night here in Cleveland, I heard Red [an orchestra] perform Schoenberg's orchestration of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, semi-staged, along with songs by Alma Mahler. It was an impressive showing, and both sets of songs were lovely. Alma was quite a gifted composer herself!

It was fascinating how the concert was designed as a look into the relationship between Gustav and Alma Mahler - it included readings from their letters to each other, showing some of the very strange dynamics between them. Mahler, especially toward the beginning of the relationship, expected Alma to completely subjugate her life to his needs, to devote herself to nothing more than making him happy, and allowing him to compose. Also interesting is the apparent fact that Alma was initially taken with him as a conductor, but didn't think much of his symphonies at all. Go figure.

Red's programming is quite experimental; they really make an effort to reach a contemporary audience. It's a great approach, and though certainly no replacement for traditional concert format, their interest in staging, interdisciplinary work, etc. to make the music more accessible and engaging is a shot in the arm for classical music.

Oh, by way of introduction: I'm Nate, a trombonist and student of early music in Cleveland. Glad I ran across this community.