Mahler’s Fifth Symphony begins with a funeral march – but that’s only the start of this particular story, with its tragedies, triumphs and distant horn-calls - plus, of course, the famous Adagietto, possibly the sweetest love-letter ever written in sound. Ryan Wigglesworth brings a composer’s insight to Mahler’s huge vision – and conducts his own song-cycle Till Dawning.
“Can there be any day but this / Though many suns to shine endeavour?” Like Mahler’s symphony, Till Dawning tells a story of suffering, struggle and triumphant reawakening, and this new orchestral version only heightens its emotional intensity. Wigglesworth himself conducts, and it’s sung by Elizabeth Watts, who will perform in place of Sophie Bevan who had to withdraw from the concert.
