wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Mahler himself called his Symphony No. 1 “The Titan,” adopting the title of a novel by Jean Paul Richter. The composer likened himself to the novel’s hero, thus the “Titan” of the symphony’s nickname. While he described the beginning of the last movement as “the cry of a wounded heart,” the movement ends with what Bruno Walter called “a victory over life.” Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic in our second-hour presentation, but you can hear the same symphony live at Avery Fisher Hall on November 18th, 19th, and 20th, conducted by James Conlon.

Our first hour is devoted mostly to Bach. “Bachianas brasileiras” No. 1, one of Heitor Villa-Lobos’s nine tributes to the Baroque master, is performed by the Brazilian Guitar Quartet. It is followed by a work by Johann Sebastian himself, the Lute Suite No. 2, Rolf Lislevand playing on a 13-course Baroque lute.

After our film-music interlude, we hear John Tavener’s “The Hidden Treasure,” a work for string quartet but with a prominent cello part written with Steven Isserlis (who is indeed tonight’s cellist) in mind. Tavener says the work represents a journey from Paradise lost towards the Paradise Christ promised to the repentant thief. Music by Haydn, Poulenc, and Vaughan Williams rounds out the evening.