Share your comments on Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde
Concert Coda
Press Reviews and Features
“Lacombe exactingly commanded the uncommon forces at hand, with an interpretation that was full of life and color. The orchestra was in top form.”
Full Review: The Star-Ledger—January 21, 2014
Watch a Star-Ledger video and read a feature following the process of bringing Tan Dun’s Earth Concerto to life—from the percussionists’ trip to a garden store for the flower pots that would become instruments to a full orchestra rehearsal at NJPAC in Newark.
U.S. 1 speaks with Music Director Jacques Lacombe about the Winter Festival.
Full preview: U.S. 1—January 15, 2014
FROM THE STAGE
“Tan Dun is a brilliant composer; he takes what many call the greatest instrument—the symphony orchestra—and expands its capabilities and its palate of sounds. In [the Earth Concerto], it felt as though the combination of sounds, vocalizations and extended techniques on our instruments (like the brass popping their mouthpieces) was something [both] natural and new. I am beyond impressed [Tan Dun’s] work, and I really enjoyed playing the concerto—I felt like someone had just given me a brand new musical instrument.
“Part of what makes this piece so special is the many unique colors and timbres that came from the clay and ceramic instruments. The percussionists’ opening phrases used similar rhythms, but they were playing on pots of different sizes and shapes, with different glazes and densities, and they had different ways of striking or brushing them. It was an incredible exploration of color, done in a way that was very sincere and organic. That’s what I really like about Tan Dun—the music sounds very natural, it’s always interesting, and it gets you dancing.”
—Andrew Lamy, clarinet
PROGRAM INFORMATION
JACQUES LACOMBE conductor
DAVID COSSIN percussion
ZHANG MENG wind instruments
ELIZABETH BISHOP mezzo-soprano
RUSSELL THOMAS tenor
NEW JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
TAN DUN Earth Concerto (U.S. Premiere)
MAHLER Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth)
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