Mahler, The Song of the Earth
As an orchestra, Les Siècles is no stranger to daring combinations of composers, and the pairing of Rameau and Mahler is a case in point!
The musicians have invited two of their generation’s most spectacular voices to join them, tenor Andrew Staples and the Quebec-born contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, whose amber-toned timbre is the perfect choice to interpret the depths of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. This vast “symphony of lieders” develops a reflection on the human existence, navigating between humour and tragedy, from the sublime to the trivial.
Les Siècles opens with the sparkling suite from Rameau’s Les Indes galantes, a major work from the baroque repertoire, that was forgotten about for over two centuries until it was progressively rediscovered in the 20th century.