ED2016 4/5 Reviews ED2016 Music Reviews

Australian Chamber Orchestra Alice Coote and Stuart Skelton Sing Mahler (Edinburgh International Festival)

By Louise Rodgers | Published on Wednesday 10 August 2016

This concert about rejoicing and mourning opened with Richard Wagner in gentle mood, with ‘Siegfried’s Idyll’, his tribute to his wife and new son. There was only one of each instrument so everyone was a soloist, and they were all superb. Unusually there was no percussion, so double bass and cello were a vital partnership. Song cycle ‘Das Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth)’ was written a year after the death of composer Gustav Mahler’s child, and the spicy orchestration of this arrangement included celesta, harmonium, mandolin and unusual piano techniques. Mezzo-soprano Alice Coote drew the audience in with her confiding singing – a telling of truths, whilst tenor Stewart Skelton blustered magnificently in drunken denial.

The Queen’s Hall, 6 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | [Louise Rodgers]