Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer

Chicago Philharmonic
Scott Speck Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Susan Platts Mezzo-Soprano

Schumann Symphony No. 3
Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer)
Larsen Deep Summer Music

Buy tickets to Songs of a Wayfarer

6:50 PM: Join us in the for a free pre-concert performance from The Pelios String Quartet! The Pelios String Quartet is comprised of violinists Clark Snavely and Ellen Zhou, violist Tristan Zhu, and cellist Amelia Zitoun. All four students are merit fellows at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy, a pre-college training program for gifted musicians. The groups is coached by faculty member Rodolfo Vieira.

The name “Pelios,” derived from Greek mythology, refers to the god of emotion and passion. The myth of Pelios describes a conflicted deity whose power was to give people emotions. With happiness came great sadness, and with love came hate. Through their playing, The Pelios String Quartet strive to embody the spectrum of emotions Pelios delivers, as well as instilling their audience with the indescribable, out-of-body feelings that come with making music.

7:30 PM: Chicago Philharmonic concert begins.

Key Notes:

• Join Chicago Philharmonic and renowned Mahler specialist, Mezzo-Soprano Susan Platts for Gustav Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, or Songs of a Wayfarer. The music and text of this Lieder cycle was written by a young Mahler, with many of the lines reminiscent of heartbreak, beauty, and the end of a season.
• Headlining the program is Schumann’s Symphony No. 3, written to capture his euphoric response to the grand Colgone Cathedral.
• Also on the program is living composer Libby Larsen’s Deep Summer Music, offering an intimate taste of Americana.

About Susan Platts

British-born Canadian mezzo-soprano Susan Platts brings a uniquely rich and wide-ranging voice to concert and recital repertoire for alto and mezzo-soprano, particularly esteemed for her performances of Gustav Mahler’s works. She is a Fellow of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, which gave her the opportunity to work closely with Jessye Norman.

She has collaborated with many of today’s leading conductors including John Adams, Marin Alsop, Roberto Abbado, Sir Andrew Davis, Ludovic Morlot, Leon Botstein, Josep Caballé-Domenech, Christoph Eschenbach, JoAnn Falletta, Jane Glover, Vladimir Jurowski, Jeffrey Kahane, Carlos Kalmar, Keith Lockhart, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Roger Norrington, Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Bramwell Tovey, Osmo Vänska and Pinchas Zuckerman.  Ms. Platts has appeared on many distinguished art song series including Vocal Arts Society at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Ladies Morning Musical Club in Montreal, Aldeburgh Connection in Toronto, and both the Frick Collection and Lincoln Center “Art of the Song” series in New York City.

Ms. Platts’ recent opera highlights include Die Walküre with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Opera House,  John Adams’ Nixon in China with the BBC Symphony, as well as Britten’s Albert Herring (Pacific Opera, Vancouver Opera), Erda in Wagner’s Das Rheingold (Pacific Opera), and Bernstein’s A Quiet Place (Montreal Symphony Orchestra).