In 1910, Gustav Mahler was suffering both from the heart ailment that would end his life and having been betrayed by his wife, Alma, who had had an affair with architect Walter Gropius. In that state of mind he penned his final composition, the Tenth Symphony, a searing work in which Mahler’s trademark expressivity is taken to new heights, while anticipating many of the revolutionary changes in 20th century music yet to come. The majority of the work was left un-orchestrated at the time of his death—in this performance we bring you the world premiere of an arrangement for chamber ensemble by renowned Mahlerian Michel Galante. 23Arts Classical Music Director Jonathan Yates leads the Argento Chamber Ensemble, New York City’s premiere virtuoso chamber ensemble dedicated to innovative musical performance and the discovery of daring artistic paths.
Admission: Suggested donation $20
Under the direction of Michel Galante, Argento has become an essential source of adventurous new music. – Alex Ross, The New Yorker
The Argento New Music Project’s fierce emotional commitment onstage and relentless determination to master all technical aspects of its repertoire has inspired world renowned composers such as Tristan Murail, Beat Furrer, and Georg Friedrich Haas to regard them as the best interpreter of their music in the United States. Argento first gained prominence at New York’s “Sounds French Festival” in 2003 and were shortly thereafter invited to work closely with Elliott Carter and Pierre Boulez for the opening concert of the French American Cultural Exchange. From its inception, the group has dedicated itself to a thorough command of the microtonal challenges of contemporary Spectral composers, an effort that culminated in their first CD Winter Fragments, winner of the prestigious Record Geijutsu 2010 Record Academy Award for best recording. read more