Mahler, Wagner and Mozart

Finchley Symphony Orchestra under guest conductor Robert Hodge presents a varied programme at its March concert.

Mahler’s fourth symphony forgoes the heavy orchestral forces of his first three for lighter textures; it is also rather shorter. The composer explores themes of childhood and innocence with a finale in which the soprano (soloist - Emily Garland) sings of a child’s vision of heaven, “the angelic voices gladden our senses, so that all awaken for joy.”

We keep to the childhood theme with ‘Siegfried Idyll’, a birthday present to Wagner’s wife Cosima after the birth of their son Siegfried. It, too, inhabits a sound world very different from most of Wagner’s music.
Two splendid arias by Mozart complete our programme. From one of his least known works, the unfinished opera ‘Zaide’, comes ‘Ruhe Sanft’. Most of our audience will know ‘Dove sono’, one of the highlights of ‘The Marriage of Figaro’.