26 March 2019 – For Immediate Release
“The Colorado MahlerFest in and around the city of Boulder is one of the boldest musical initiatives of modern times… a byword among Mahler scholars and followers for its uncluttered idealism, its uncommon altitude (5,430 feet high) and its internationally resonant scholarship and recordings…” – Norman Lebrecht
- New Edition from Breitkopf & Härtel for Celebration of 300th Anniversary of world’s oldest music publisher
- Concert on 19 May in Boulder Colorado also includes new Critical Edition of Mahler’s symphonic fragment ‘Blumine’ alongside works by Beehtoven and Korngold
The 32nd Colorado MahlerFest will culminate in the world-premiere of a new Critical Edition of Mahler’s First Symphony from the world-renowned publishers, Breitkopf & Härtel at 3:30 PM on Sunday the 19th of May in Macky Auditorium on the Colorado University-Boulder campus. The program, conducted by MahlerFest Artistic Director Kenneth Woods, opens with Mahler’s orchestration of Beethoven’s ‘Leonore’ Overture No. 3 and includes a performance of the lyrical Korngold Violin Concerto featuring visiting MahlerFest concertmaster and international soloist, Zoë Beyers. The program will also include the first performance of Breitkopf’s new edition of ‘Blumine,’ a charming movement included in the first version of the work that was to become Mahler’s First Symphony which was later removed.
Mahler’s First Symphony is the first volume in the new series of all the Mahler’s symphonies being released by Breitkopf & Härtel as part of the celebrations of the distinguished firm’s 300th Anniversary. As the world’s oldest music publishing house, the company has consistently supported contemporary composers and had close editorial collaboration with Beethoven, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Wagner and Brahms. They also published the first complete works editions, for instance the Bach-Gesellschaft edition with the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, the Alte Mozart-Ausgabe with Mozart’s works, and Schubert’s Franz Schubert’s Werke. Mahler himself first approached Breitkopf about publishing his music in 1896. During his lifetime, Mahler was unsuccessful in his repeated attempts to see his music published by the firm whose editions of Beethoven and Mozart were so essential to him, so it is fitting that, at long last, Breitkopf would make this new edition of his complete symphonies the cornerstone of their 300th Anniversary Celebration.
Conductor Kenneth Woods welcomes the edition as a valuable contribution to Mahler scholarship and research. “Since the mid-20th Century, the editions of Mahler’s music most conductors use have been those from the Complete Works Edition supported by the International Gustav Mahler Society, and their ongoing work has been invaluable in helping musicians world-wide to better understand Mahler’s intentions. However, as we’ve seen with recent new ‘competing’ editions of works by composers like Dvořák and Beethoven, being able to compare scholarly versions of major works can be incredibly illuminating, and this ambitious project will represent the biggest new contribution to the resources available to musicians studying and performing Mahler since the launch of the New Complete Critical Edition by the International Gustav Mahler Society over a decade ago.”
In fact, the new Breitkopf edition seeks to build on the scholarship of the Complete Critical Edition, casting a fresh eye over existing research with a new examination of sources. In the case of the First Symphony, particular care has been given to looking at the material from Mahler’s final performance of the work in New York in 1910. The new materials have been engraved with the utmost concern for the needs of the performer, printed in larger format for ease of reading. The edition includes a detailed editorial report, translations of German texts and written contributions from editor Christian Rudolf Riedel and Constantin Floros.
Colorado MahlerFest, founded in 1989 by conductor Robert Olson, is one of only two North American organizations to receive the Gold Medal of the International Gustav Mahler Society in Vienna (the other being the New York Philharmonic, the orchestra Mahler conducted for the last two years of his life). MahlerFest has long been at the forefront of Mahler scholarship and the propagation of the widest range of Mahler’s music. Festival landmarks include the first performance of the Joe Wheeler completion of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony in 1997, one of the first performances of the Hamburg Version of Mahler’s First Symphony in 1998, the North American Premiere of Kurt Schwertsik’s Nachtmusiken in 2016 and the first performance of a newly corrected version of the Cooke version of Mahler’s 10th Symphony prepared in partnership with Colin Matthews, David Matthews and Peter Wadl in 2017. Past guest speakers at MahlerFest include Donald Mitchell, Stephen Hefling, Gilbert Kaplan and Henry-Louis de La Grange.
About Colorado MahlerFest
About Kenneth WoodsAbout Breitkopf & Härtel
Interview requests and additional information via Ethan Hecht. ethan.hecht@mahlerfest.org
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