Richard Strauss's completed his oeuvre with a farewell in the form of the Four Last Songs cycle, which was composed in 1948 and consists of four pieces accompanied by orchestra. The elderly composer was racked by illness and troubled by conditions in post-war Germany. In 1947, he stumbled on Eichendorff's poem Im Abendrot (At Sunset), in which an aging couple, at the end of a life spent together and gazing at the setting sun, ask themselves whether "this is what death is like”. The other s...ongs of the cycle were written for poems by Hermann Hesse. Strauss himself did not survive until the premiere, which was held in 1950 with Kirsten Flagstad, one of the greatest singers of the time, in the featured role, and Wilhem Furtwängler conducting.
Gustav Mahler's song cycle Songs of a Wayfarer was also inspired by autobiographical events. The young Mahler was conductor of the Royal Theatre in Kassel between 1883 and 1885, during which time he fell head over heels in love with the attractive yet capricious singer Johanna Richter. He sent detailed reports of his unrequited love to his friend, Friedrich Löhr. In late 1884, he then also found an artistic form to express his emotions: six poems, all of them in stark contrast to each other and taken from the collection The Youth's Magic Horn, with minor revisions he made himself. Of these, four made it into the final cycle, which the secret object of his desire never got to hear. The closing movement of the Mahler symphony to be played in the second half of the concert, which was completed in 1900, is a song that originates from earlier, 1882 to be precice. Its text (The Heavenly Life) was likewise taken from The Boy's Magic Horn collection.
Presented by: Budapest Festival Orchestra
Parking information
We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
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