A Performance Highlighting Our Exceptional Alumni
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 included 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 was the 64-piece Ensemble Q Academic Orchestra.
About the Piece:
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.
LGNOP and Digital Stage
A Professional Recording of Des Knaben Wunderhorn is now available for streaming on QPAC’s DIGITAL STAGE Platform. For as little as $15.00, anyone from around Australia can access the recording and watch at home. We are excited about the possibility of making LGNOP more accessible to regional communities.
We would like to thank QPAC for their continued support of the Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program.
Presented by the Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program
Recorded by QPAC in 2023 at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University.