originalklang project 2024
“When I want to produce a soft and restrained note, I don’t give it to an instrument that plays this note easily, but to one that so with great effort, even strain, yes, often with overexertion and exceeding its natural limits. For me the basses and bassoon often have to squeak (!) on the highest notes, while the flute blows way down in the low register… “
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler’s music is part of our Western identity today. But do we really know it? Do we know how it sounded when it was first performed, or even how it might have sounded in Mahler’s head when he first conceived it in Toblach? Challenging our expectations in this regard also means reconsidering our understanding of history, tradition and identity.
Mahler revisited
The Mahler Academy Orchestra’s originalklang project under the direction of Philipp von Steinaecker breathes new life into the performance practice of Mahler’s time. For this unique project, the students of the Mahler Academy meet 50 musicians from Europe’s top ensembles in Toblach, where Mahler wrote his last works.
To make the project possible, the “Euregio-Cultural Center Gustav Mahler Toblach-Dolomites” has built up a collection that meticulously reconstructs the instruments used by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra around 1900. Historical playing techniques of the fin de siècle are being relearned on these original instruments and the repertoire of this era is being approached in a series of chamber music concerts.
The Busoni-Mahler Foundation in close cooperation with the Foundation Euregio Kulturzentrum Toblach is responsible for the production of the originalklang project.
originalklang project 2024
Under the direction of Philipp von Steinaecker, Gustav Mahler’s 5th Symphony had been performed on period instruments for the first time since the time of it’s composition. Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto also received it’s first performance on original instruments, with soloist Leif Ove Andsnes playing on a historical Steinway. Rachmaninov chose an identical instrument for his legendary New York performance of the concerto in 1910 under the direction of Gustav Mahler.
Mahler Academy Orchestra Tour 2024
08.09.: Dobbiaco/Toblach – Gustav Mahler Hall
10.09.: Bolzano/Bozen – Teatro Comunale
11.09.: Wiener Konzerthaus – Großer Saal
12.09.: Concertgebouw Amsterdam – Grote Zaal
13.09.: Kölner Philharmonie
15.09.: Philharmonie de Paris – Grande salle Pierre Boulez
Check out the Mahler Academy Orchestra 2024 in concert at the Philharmonie de Paris!
“Woorden schieten tekort om deze omverwerpende ervaring te beschrijven. Kleuren, sferen, balans, tempi – eigenlijk alles was anders dan we gewend zijn.”
Words are inadequate to describe this transformative experience. Colours, atmospheres, balance, tempo – basically everything was different from what we are used to.
„Das hier aber ist was anderes, eine Stimulation von Herz und Hirn, wie man sie im Konzertsaal selten erlebt.“
But this is something else, a stimulation of the heart and brain that is rarely experienced in the concert hall.
“[…] deed dit orkest voor het eerst het Amsterdamse Concertgebouw aan. En het voelde alsof Gustav Mahler himself weer even terug was in het gebouw waar hij meerdere malen zijn eigen werk dirigeerde.”
[…] this orchestra visited the Amsterdam Concertgebouw for the first time. And it felt as if Gustav Mahler himself was back in the building where he conducted his own work several times.
„Mehr Leiden, mehr Verzweiflung, mehr Surrealismus, mehr Melancholie, mehr Triumphträume, mehr Verstörung. Mehr Mahler.”
More suffering, more despair, more surrealism, more melancholy, more dreams of triumph, more disturbance. More Mahler.
„Die […] Truppe führt die sonst immer übermenschlich auftrumpfende Musik Mahlers auf menschliches Maß zurück, die Fünfte wird humanisiert, es wirkt, als würde sie von einem Prinzen wachgeküsst.“
The […] ensemble restores Mahler’s music, which is otherwise always superhumanly showy, to a human scale; the Fifth is humanised, as if it was being kissed awake by a prince.
„Die Streicher sind mild und leise, die Holzbläser freundlich individuell, das Blech gentlemanlike elegant, die Balance beglückend. Selbst wenn alle Hundert aus Leibeskräften werkeln, sind irrsinnig viele Details hörbar.“
The strings are mild and quiet, the woodwinds friendly and individual, the brass gentlemanlike elegant, the balance exhilarating. Even when all one hundred are working with all their might, an incredible amount of detail is audible.
“Die Mahleriatics um Philipp von Steinaecker erringen mit der Fünften Mahler einen Publikumstriumph sondergleichen.“
The Mahleriatics around Philipp von Steinaecker achieve an unrivalled audience triumph with the Fifth Symphony.
Research
The Mahler Academy works to ensure that the latest findings on historical performance practice in Vienna between 1890 and 1910 will be available for the work of the musicians. They collaborate closely with Prof. Dr. Clive Brown, who, as a leading specialist in the field of performance practice of romantic music, will accompany the research and rehearsal process of the orchestra and instruct the musicians in workshops and sectionals.
“Our concepts of beautiful and communicative performance are always evolving. Sometimes, along the way, we lose sight of sounds that are subtler and more apt for a realisation of the composer’s vision than those which have replaced them; sometimes, too, we lose contact with expressive practices that were only to be read between the lines, even in such detailed scores as Mahler’s. Rediscovering these sounds and practices, and using them creatively, can reinvest the music with a freshness and impact that has been lost through technological developments and anachronistic responses to Mahler’s notation.”
Prof. Dr. Clive Brown
Instruments
As part of its partnership with the Mahler Academy, the Foundation Euregio Kulturzentrum Toblach has begun building an instrument collection for the originalklang project, for which the instruments of the Vienna Court Opera Orchestra around 1910 are being meticulously reconstructed. The Foundation has purchased wind- and percussion-instruments and restored them or, in a few cases, had exact copies made. The string players use gut strings on their instruments and adapt their techniques to the conventions of the time.
Faculty Musicians
Mahler Academy Orchester
Afanasy Chupin
Guest leader – Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Stefan Arzberger
Violin I – Leipziger Streichquartett
Stephanie Baubin
Violin I – Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Jan Fišer
Violin I – Czech Philharmonic
Johannes Lörstad
Violin I – Royal Stockholm Philharmonic
Claudio Mondini
Violin I – Filarmonica della Scala
Alexandra Preucil
Violin I – Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra
Massimo Spadano
Violin II – Orchestra de Galicia
Marlene Dijkstra
Violin II – Nederlands RadioOrkest
Žiga Faganel
Violin II – Slovenian Philharmonic
Christian Heubes
Violin II – Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Irina Kevorkova
Violin II – Slovenian Philharmonic
Anna Maria Malm
Violin II – Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Francesca Monego
Violin II – Filarmonica della Scala
Volker Jacobsen
Viola – Artemis Quartett
Marie-Louise de Jong
Viola – Dudok Quartet Amsterdam
Martina Forni
Viola – Concertgebouw Orkest Amsterdam
Anna Krimm
Viola – Beethovenorchester Bonn, Spira Mirabilis
Carolin Krüger
Viola – Staatsorchester Braunschweig
Jörg Winkler
Viola – Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Gabriele Geminiani
Cello – Accademia Santa Cecilia
Aljia Mandič
Cello – Slovenian Philharmonic
Leo Schmidt
Cello – WDR Symphonie Orchester
Johan van Iersel
Cello – Concertgebouw Orkest Amsterdam
Moritz Weigert
Cello – Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Naomi Shaham
Bass – Symphonie Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Lorraine Campet
Bass – Opéra de Paris
Tom Devaere
Bass – B-Rock
Roberto di Ronza
Bass – Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Todor Markovič
Bass – NDR Radiophilharmonie
Chiara Tonelli
Flute – Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Diego Aceña Moreno
Flute – Staatsorchester Kassel
Francisco Varoch
Flute – Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Sebastian Sima
Oboe – Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper
Stefaan Verdegem
Oboe – AnimAeterna
Robert Oberaigner
Clarinet – Staatskapelle Dresden
Martin Bewersdorff
Clarinet – Dortmunder Philharmoniker, Concerto Köln
Giorgio Mandolesi
Bassoon – Orchestre de Paris
Maurizio Barigione
Bassoon – Teatro Massimo Palermo
Jonas Rudner
Horn – Tonkünstler Orchester Wien
Florian Gurdet
Horn – Klangvereinigung Wien
Guillaume Jehl
Trumpet – Berliner Philharmoniker
Wolfgang Gaisböck
Trumpet – Camerata Salzburg
Raphael Pouget
Trumpet – Haydn Konservatorium
Walter Voglmayr
Trombone – Wiener Symphoniker
Otmar Gaiswinkler
Trombone – Wiener Symphoniker
Franz Winkler
Tuba – Wiener Symphoniker
Stefan Rapp
Timpani – Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Gleb Logvinov
Percussion – Mariinsky Orchestra
Gaël Gandino
Harp – Bayerisches Staatsorchester München
