Des Knaben Wunderhorn | Digital Stage

Director: Lisa Gasteen AO

Director: Philip Mayers

Director: Nancy Underhill

Director: Zachary Miezio

The Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program’s (LGNOP) performance of Gustav Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn marks the second Australian orchestral rendition of this pivotal work in over thirty years. Performers include Conductor Simon Bruckard, Assistant Conductor for Simone Young AM and former LGNOP Alumnus (2016 and 2018), mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby, a former Queenslander now gracing the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and baritone Oliver Boyd, LGNOP (2017) and now a chorus member at Deutsche Oper Berlin.  Accompanying them is a 64-piece Ensemble Q Orchestra. Published in 1808, 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn' is a compilation of adapted German folk poems selected by Achim Arnim and Clemens Brentano. Exploring the themes of love, war, and childhood, these poems embody the ideals of romantic nationalism prevalent in 19th-century Germany. The revered Austrian composer Gustav Mahler found immense inspiration in this collection, set selected poems to music, and inserted these musical themes into his early symphonies. His fondness for these pieces led him to publish a comprehensive selection of 'Wunderhorn' in 1899, now recognised as a significant contribution to the classical repertoire. Company credits: Founder – Lisa Gasteen AO Artistic Director – Philip Mayers Director of Implementation – Nancy Underhill Project Manager – Zachary Miezio Performance credits: Conductor – Simon Bruckard mezzo-soprano – Catherine Carby baritone – Oliver Boyd Orchestra – Ensemble Q Academy Orchestra Spoken texts written by Philip Mayers and performed by: Kira Dooner Jack Bolton Aylish Ryan Jia-Peng Yeung Shanna Goh Rachael Joyce Dallas Tippet Lachlann Lawton Presented by the Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program. Recorded in 2023 at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University.